Chair of RTÉ’s audit and risk committee must face questioning on payments crisis – Doherty

The RTÉ board member who chairs the audit and risk committee must come before the Oireachtas this week to explain what she knows about the undisclosed payments scandal, according to a Fine Gael Senator.

Senator Regina Doherty said it is essential RTÉ board members and staff with knowledge of the deal in which undisclosed payments were made to presenter Ryan Tubridy appear before the Oireachtas public accounts committee this week.

Senator Doherty said: “The RTÉ undisclosed payments crisis has raised endless questions regarding financial practices, governance and accountability at the national broadcaster and it is imperative that the Board sheds light on these matters for the sake of RTÉ’s reputation and future viability.

“RTÉ confirmed that last March during a routine audit of its 2022 accounts, an issue arose in relation to the transparency of certain payments.

“The Audit and Risk Committee of the RTÉ Board then commissioned Grant Thornton to carry out a review on the matter, and its findings regarding RTÉ’s underreporting of Mr Tubridy’s salary has thrown the broadcaster into crisis.

“Board members are privy to vital information and potentially, details as to how this payment arrangement arose and continued for several years, and why it wasn’t publicly recorded until it was highlighted in an external audit.

“Ms Anne O’Leary is named in RTE’s latest published annual report 2021 both as a member of the board and also as Chair of the audit and risk committee[1].

“We need to hear from Ms O’Leary and her colleagues as to what went wrong here, and that is why I hope we will see her give evidence to the Public Accounts Committee in the Dàil this week.

“The duties of RTE’s audit and risk committee, as established by the board and under its terms of reference, is to review and monitor the integrity of the annual Group Financial Statements and to monitor the cash flow and funding position of RTÉ and its subsidiaries[2].

“Other duties include risk management and assisting the Board in fulfilling its responsibilities in ensuring the appropriateness and completeness of the systems of internal control and risk management.

“We need full transparency on this matter once and for all and to stop the endless drip feed of information we are getting on a daily basis, which is further undermining public faith in the broadcaster,” Senator Doherty said.

[1] https://www.rte.ie/annual-report-2021/corporate-governance/board-of-rte.html

[2] https://about.rte.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Audit-Risk-Committee-Terms-of-Reference-Dec-2020.pdf