News analysis
Irish state broadcaster scandal: not how you do business
The RTE scandal has had a heavy presence in Irish media since the summer of 2023, on the emergence of a payments scandal.
Since then, a thorough and public review of the organisation – Ireland’s publicly funded state broadcaster – has been ongoing.
Politicians, journalists and the public are eager for answers concerning the governance and culture at the top levels of the organisation, which receives the bulk of its operating capital from a licence fee paid by every home that owns a television.
The RTE scandal: latest development is “not the way you do business”.
In February 2024, the chair of the RTE board, Siún Ní Raghallaigh, announced her resignation. Her actions came the morning after Ireland’s Minister for Media refused to express confidence in her on national television.
“The way the chair exited the organisation was unfortunate, and that’s not the way you do business,” said the Corporate Governance Institute director and co-founder David Duffy on RTE radio.
On Ní Raghallaigh’s replacement, he said, “there is a need to get strong leadership in with somebody who has the right values and a strong moral compass.”
The RTE scandal recap
In July 2023, it emerged that RTE’s top presenter was paid more than publicly disclosed accounts suggested. The fallout revealed the existence of “barter accounts”, which were used to pay the difference, as well as other luxuries like flights and sports fixture tickets for other RTE personnel and contacts.
The broadcaster’s director-general, Dee Forbes, was suspended and resigned shortly after. The presenter in the middle of the fallout has also moved to another network.
More recent criticisms have been made against the governance culture at RTE in the years preceding the scandal.
Independent auditors have raised issues such as a stage-musical project that incurred huge losses, and “exit payments” to senior personnel who worked with RTE over the past few years.
The communication over these exit payments is what has led to the board chair’s resignation.
The story continues to evolve, and you can learn more about it here (beginning at 19:00).