RTE's new Director General Kevin Bakhurst is set to “radically” overhaul the station when he takes up his new role today.
Mr Bakhurst, who will have a salary of €306,000, takes the helm in the middle of a hurricane of revelations about its highest paid star Ryan Tubridy, his agent Noel Kelly and the station’s handling of public funds through barter accounts. The former Ofcom group director insisted it is now a “time for action” at the troubled broadcaster.
Yesterday he said: “I’d rather not say too much ahead of tomorrow, just say we’re going to be in contact with staff first thing in the morning via email. “I’ll be going around meeting people, trying to take questions and explain what we’re trying to do.
“The only thing I’ll say to people is it’s time for action now, that’s all we need.”
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Earlier Minister of State Thomas Byrne described Mr Bakhurst’s arrival at RTE as a “really good moment” as the broadcaster attempts to rebuild trust.
Appearing on RTE 1’s The Week In Politics programme, Mr Byrne also suggested there has been too much focus on commercial activity at RTE and a return to the “basics of public service broadcasting” is needed.
On Saturday Taoiseach Leo Varadkar also called for change. Speaking in Co Clare, he said: “I think we need to see change in RTE. Without change, I don’t think that trust can be restored.
“I understand that the new Director General Kevin Bakhurst is going to make some announcements on Monday in relation to changes to the organisation, the way the management is structured and also is going to deal with issues around conflicts of interest.
“I am very reassured in what he has said to Government and it’s important that he be allowed to set out those plans on Monday and to talk to staff first and then to inform the wider nation about those changes and he’s going to make them quickly.”
Asked about his views on reform of the TV licence, the Taoiseach said it needs to be overhauled.
He continued: “It’s a really old fashioned way of collecting revenue based on ownership of a TV, a device that many people just don’t have anymore, and almost all the money goes to RTE even though there are many other bodies involved in broadcasting outside public service broadcasting.
“So I think reform of the TV licence is long overdue and I want that to happen during this Government. I want to make sure we have a new system up and running during the lifetime of this Government.”
The furore around RTE’s failure to disclose €345,000 of additional payments to former Late Late Show host Ryan Tubridy between 2017 and 2022 has since widened.
Read more: Ryan Tubridy spotted out for a jog days before grilling over RTE payments
There have been further disclosures about the broadcaster’s internal financial, accounting and governance practices and its expenditure on corporate hospitality for advertising clients.
Tubridy and his agent Noel Kelly will appear before the Oireachtas committee tomorrow and are set to face a grilling for up to three hours.
Louth Sinn Fein TD Imelda Munster has urged Tubridy to come clean and tell the country whose idea it was to get him a written RTE guarantee that he wouldn’t have to take a pay cut.
She said: “We want to find out how all this came about. Who came up with this idea and who asked for it. How come Ryan was the only employee in RTE who had this letter of comfort or were there others that we didn’t know about.
"Why was he given a guarantee that he would not have to take a pay cut when the rest of the ordinary workers at RTE weren’t. Who precisely persuaded the then RTE Director General Dee Forbes to write the letter of comfort.
"Why did he get one if no one else did? I really hope Ryan and his agent Noel Kelly can tell us exactly what went on. The people of Ireland deserve to know the truth.”
She said her colleagues would also be concentrating on the three payments totalling €120,000 which RTE said was paid to Tubridy between 2016 and 2018.
Ms Munster added: “RTE said this money was credited from its accounts, but we don’t know if Ryan actually received the money.”
She also confirmed that the Dail committee members now also want RTE to publish a top 50 list of low earners at the station.
“There has been a lot of talk about the top RTE talent and how much money they were getting but we want the public to see how low paid so many RTE workers were from researchers to assistant producers.
“These are the people who worked very hard for little or nothing to keep the station going and in many cases were treated like dirt.”
A source close to Tubridy said he can’t wait to get down to Leinster House to tell his side of the story. They told us: “Ryan will have plenty to say for himself and not everything is as black and white as people are making out.
“The past two weeks have been very difficult for him and his family but he is determined to protect his good name and honour.”
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