As the crisis in RTÉ rolls on following the revelation that €345,000 in hidden payments were made to presenter Ryan Tubridy over six years from 2017 to 2022, a number of fresh disclosures were shared at a third Oireachtas media committee in eight days. In outlining her role as the national broadcaster’s group commercial director, Geraldine O’Leary (pictured) said she was responsible for generating €1.65 billion in revenue over 11 years.
O’Leary told the committee: “This is people selling to people; RTÉ has a very good record of retaining clients. Client retention is really key. And over the period where I brought in €1.65 billion, we spent 0.1 per cent. So compared to any other media company, and other tech company, I think this stacks up.” Since the scandal broke, O’Leary said she was subjected to “erroneous reports” on Twitter and in newspapers which affected her mental health.
The reports were an invasion of privacy and “crossed a line that I do not find acceptable”.
Adrian Lynch, acting deputy director general at RTÉ, revealed that a staff member had a car on loan for a period of five years which was returned on June 23. Lynch refused to name the staff member or make of car when answering committee questions. It later transpired that the RTÉ staff member was leading sports broadcaster Marty Morrissey and the make of car was Renault, the brand that was caught up in the secret Tubridy payments.
Lynch said the car loan to Morrissey (above) was not approved by RTÉ. The arrangement did not involve any cost to RTÉ. Morrissey confirmed that he MC’d a series of about 12 events for Renault across the country in 2017, where he interviewed a line-up of high-profile GAA personalities. He got permission from RTÉ to front the events for which there were no fees. In hoping to park the issue, Morrissey apologised for his “error of judgement”.
Lynch was asked if there were other similar commercial deals, to which he replied it was “possible” there were. On the issue of the barter account, RTÉ chief financial officer Richard Collins stood over his previous statement where he told last week’s Oireachtas meeting that there was just one account, but it involved three separate inputs. A total of almost €1.6 million was spent on client entertainment and corporate hospitality over the past 10 years.
RTÉ has asked Grant Thornton to investigate Toy Show: The Musical Christmas and explain how it incurred loses of €2.2 million after selling only 11,000 tickets for the run at the National Convention Centre. It was reported that 9,000 tickets were distributed free. Speaking on the Claire Byrne Show, pantomime producer and VMTV host Alan Hughes said RTÉ had a budget worth “four or five times” what competing shows would have had.
RTÉ was able to use its TV, radio, digital and social channels to promote the show.
Ryan Tubridy and his agent Noel Kelly of NK Management have agreed to appear before the Oireachtas committees next Tuesday at which time they will provide “important information” about the hidden transactions. They will first meet the politicians privately before facing questions at back-to-back public meetings. Incoming RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst (above) is due to attend the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) next Thursday.
Bakhurst said a process of compiling a register of interests of RTÉ staff and contractors was already underway. It is expected to be completed in the coming weeks.
