RTÉ Board Publishes Second Report by Grant Thornton
RTÉ Board Publishes Second Report by Grant Thornton
Report Identifies Flaws in Procedure and Failures in Governance
Wednesday 16th August – The RTÉ Board has today published phase two of the second report by Grant Thornton, commissioned by the Audit and Risk Committee to examine issues surrounding the public disclosure of earnings by Mr. Ryan Tubridy.
The Board of RTE is releasing the full report subject to minor redactions for anonymity purposes in relation to more junior staff.
The Report confirms that 2017-2019 earning figures for Mr. Tubridy were publicly understated due to adjustments made by RTÉ’s financial department.
The Report confirms that the Board of RTÉ was correct in restating Mr Tubridy’s publicly disclosed earnings for the period between 2017 and 2019.
The Report makes clear that neither Mr. Tubridy nor NK Management had any involvement in the adjustments for the period 2017 – 2019.
The Report confirms that while the earnings were publicly understated, there was no impact on RTÉ’s financial statements as a result of these adjustments.
The Report suggests a hypothesis that on the balance of probabilities adjustments were made for the years 2017, 2018 and 2019 in order to allow for ‘revised earnings’ below a figure of €500,000 in each year.
The Report highlights poor governance including significant deficiencies in internal management controls, failures in the finance function, and a lack of communication from the Executive to the Board.
The Chair of RTÉ, Siún Ní Raghallaigh, stated: “Regrettably this Report confirms our view of the siloed management culture that has prevailed in RTÉ and supports the decision by the Board to initiate an ongoing programme of corrective action.
The Report paints a picture of poor internal communication and weak processes.
The Report identifies specific dates whereby errors could have been corrected but were not and key documents that could have been effectively interrogated but were not.
It is also clear from the Report that the then Executive did not properly engage with the Board on these matters, nor was relevant information provided to the Board by the Executive or by the auditors.
We will be taking on board the issues raised by the Report and will be engaging with RTÉ’s auditors, Deloitte, to discuss the contents of same.
Steps have been taken to ensure there can be no repeat of these failures. Working with Director General Kevin Bakhurst, the Board of RTÉ remains committed to an ongoing programme of reform and recovery for the organisation. I hope that the publication of this Report represents an important staging point in RTÉ’s rebuilding of trust with the public and stakeholders.”