'Bigger bombshells' over redundancy deals at RTÉ will infuriate staff, say sources

‘Bigger bombshells’ at RTÉ are in store with the delayed report on the voluntary exit package set to ‘incite significant anger’ among staff, insiders say.

The internal report into voluntary exit packages could be published as early as next week, as politicians gear up for another grilling of RTÉ management following this week’s publication of the review of the loss-making Toy Show The Musical.

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Sources with knowledge of the redundancy report have said it is ‘extensive’ and is expected to ignite ‘significant anger’ among staff, particularly those who wanted to avail of redundancy programmes but were denied.

'bigger bombshells' over redundancy deals at rté will infuriate staff, say sources

Former Chief Financial Officer of RTÉ Breda O’Keeffe and former chairwoman of the board of RTÉ Moya Doherty arrive for a Joint Committee Meeting on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport & Media on RTE Expenditure at Leinster House. Pic: Collins Photos

A source in RTÉ said of the report by McCann Fitzgerald solicitors that is due to be published: ‘The upper echelons of management did whatever they wanted, and the VEP (voluntary exit programme) report is going to show that. How did our senior staff manage to get a deal or get approval on something that didn’t match the requirements of the scheme? The scheme is you cannot be replaced.’

RTÉ commissioned a review last year into two voluntary exit package schemes from 2017 and 2021, after the broadcaster became embroiled in a series of financial and governance controversies. It was ordered by director general Kevin Bakhurst, after RTÉ’s former chief financial officer Breda O’Keeffe admitted in a public Oireachtas hearing that she left the station in March 2020 after 17 years – on a redundancy package.

However, Ms O’Keeffe’s role was not made redundant, and she was replaced by another chief financial officer – Richard Collins – before she vacated the position. Mr Collins has since resigned. The investigation into exit packages has been ongoing for more than six months and has been delayed multiple times, frustrating politicians who are investigating the national broadcaster.

'bigger bombshells' over redundancy deals at rté will infuriate staff, say sources

New RTÉ DG Kevin Bakhurst speaks to the media outside the broadcaster’s headquarters in Donnybrook. Pic: PA Photo

Mr Bakhurst said last year that he was ‘surprised’ to hear that Ms O’Keeffe had received an exit deal, and that he was aware of some people within RTÉ who had been refused a redundancy payment. However, he told an Oireachtas hearing he was precluded from commenting on whether other high-ranking former executives received exit packages, due to legal advice and confidentiality.

Mr O’Keeffe’s successor, Mr Collins, who was a member of the RTÉ executive, said last July: ‘I knew nothing about that package. Breda never explained anything about it.’ But under the terms of the 2017 and 2021 RTÉ voluntary exit programmes, any package must be subject to a ‘final review’ by the ‘full executive who will confirm the final decision’.

Last July, RTÉ’s then-interim deputy director general Adrian Lynch, who has since been promoted to deputy director general, was questioned on whether Ms O’Keeffe’s package should have been approved by all members of the executive board. Mr Lynch responded: ‘Correct. That is absolutely factual. Never came to us for sign-off.’

'bigger bombshells' over redundancy deals at rté will infuriate staff, say sources

Kevin Bakhurst at RTE. Pic: Fran Veale

The fact that both Mr Lynch and Mr Collins claim that neither of them knew about the package would appear to suggest it did not meet the criteria of being reviewed by the ‘full’ executive board, raising questions of who approved it. After the ‘debacle’ that was Toy Show The Musical and now the forthcoming review on exit packages, politicians on both the Media and Public Accounts committees are calling for management to testify before them again soon.

On Thursday, a damning 68-page report by independent forensic accountants at Grant Thornton into the €2.2million loss-making musical found that it required board approval – but this was not sought or provided.

Oireachtas Media Committee chair Niamh Smyth said she has cleared Wednesday, February 14, for a hearing on RTÉ and that she expects the VEP report to be published by then. Ms Smyth commented: ‘We cannot allow the debate to be deflected’ from the executive board’s responsibility. The Public Accounts Committee is also set to summon RTÉ in the coming weeks on receipt of the VEP review. Sources said this review is expected to strengthen the sentiment among staff ‘of being disgruntled that the upper echelons of management get something while staff on the floor are denied’.

'bigger bombshells' over redundancy deals at rté will infuriate staff, say sources

Niamh Smyth TD during a Press brieifng by Fianna Fail. Pic: Gareth Chaney/Collins

A source said: ‘I asked for redundancy, and I was told: “No, you don’t qualify,” and if I find out that someone who shouldn’t qualify got one, how do you think I’m going to react?’ While Ms O’Keeffe’s final wage was not published, Mr Collins was paid a salary in the region of €200,000 and received a car allowance of €25,000. It means Ms O’Keeffe’s exit package is likely to have been a large sum of money, given she worked in RTÉ for 17 years.

Members of the Media Committee will meet on Wednesday to make a final decision to call RTÉ in before them. Management with social media firm X, formerly known as Twitter, were due to come before the committee on Wednesday, but this has been deferred to make way for another hearing into the RTÉ saga.

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