A member of the Oireachtas’ Public Accounts Committee has accused Dee Forbes of "running from the battlefield" by resigning as Director General of RTÉ.
The Irish Mirror understands that Ms Forbes is "very unlikely" to attend two Oireachtas committee meetings this week to answer questions about the pay scandal currently engulfing the national broadcaster.
The Oireachtas Media Committee and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) had called on Ms Forbes, who was suspended from her role as Director General (DG) last week, to attend meetings on Wednesday and Thursday.
Fianna Fáil TD James O’Connor, who is a member of PAC, told The Irish Mirror that Ms Forbes’ decision to resign was akin to "running from the battlefield".
Read more: RTE's highest paid stars disclose salaries as payments scandal rumbles on
He said: "Dee Forbes' decision to resign with immediate effect is incredibly disappointing and an insult to taxpayers in this country.
"It is very evident that the DG of RTE is the person who would arguably have the most information about what is going on within the organisation.
"For that person’s reputation and the reputation of RTÉ, they should have remained in place until the Oireachtas Committees had the opportunity to put questions to the DG.
"I understand an interim DG [Adrian Lynch] has been appointed, but they can’t be accountable in the same manner or fashion as Dee Forbes.
"My fear is that RTÉ will defer until they have a concrete DG in place. The decision to resign is running from the battlefield.
"Unfortunately, I don’t think this decision is going to help the DG."
Mr O'Connor will be the main speaker at Thursday's meeting. PAC Chairman Brian Stanley told The Irish Mirror that now Ms Forbes has resigned and is effectively a private citizen, the committee has no power to compel her to attend.
He said: "Last Thursday, she was on holidays. On Friday, [we were told] she was suspended on Wednesday. Monday morning we wake up and she has resigned.
"She mentioned the fact that all this has had a serious effect on her health. If, medically, she is fit she should attend [the meeting on Thursday] and I would expect her to attend."
Green Party TD Marc Ó Cathasaigh also said that Ms Forbes’ resignation days before her appearance at PAC was "disappointing".
"I don’t know how full a picture we can get on everything that has happened within RTÉ without having the DG with us at PAC," he said.
"She also indicated that there were other people involved in the negotiations but didn’t explicitly name them.
"I don’t want to comment on whether [the invite to PAC] was the motivation [for the resignation] or not, but it might certainly be a consequence.
"It will make it much more difficult for us to get an insight into what happened."
Other members of PAC, who did not wish to speak on the record, said that they believe Ms Forbes’ resignation could have been related to her invitation to address the committee.
One TD said that the whole committee is "p**sed off" as they feel that they were not given full information from RTÉ execs about top stars’ pay in previous meetings.
In her statement on Monday morning, Ms Forbes said that the controversy has had a "serious and ongoing impact on my health and wellbeing".
The Irish Mirror understands that the PAC will apply to the Committee on Remit Oversight (CRO) to extend its powers. Typically, PAC only has the remit to examine accounts submitted to the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG). RTÉ’s accounts are not, however, audited by the C&AG.
Ms Forbes will be invited to the committee, alongside the incoming Director General Kevin Backhurt. A number of other members of the RTÉ Executive Board will also be invited. Any board member who has served since 2017 is on the invite list, the Mirror understands.
A number of PAC members told the Irish Mirror that there is concern over questioning RTÉ and Ms Forbes following the controversy when the former chief executive officer of the Rehab Group Angela Kierns was questioned. The Supreme Court determined in 2019 that PAC had violated its legislation by departing from its mandate.
For this reason, permission is being sought for the Committee to pose questions outside its remit.
It is understood that CRO will meet tomorrow to address the application and it will go before the Dáil on Wednesday. It is now widely accepted that Ms Forbes will not attend.
“That business is with or without Dee Forbes,” one member said. "We can seek to compel her. But she has to receive an invite first. "She can also challenge it legally because she is a private citizen.”
One member said that the procedure is “tremendously messy”.
The Irish Mirror also understands that Ryan Tubridy and his agent Noel Kelly will not be invited to Thursday's PAC meeting. However, there will be consideration given to inviting him in the future.
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