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The new boss of national Irish broadcaster RTÉ has suspended the company’s management, saying he was “appalled” at a scandal sparked by revelations over secret payments to its star presenter that have rocked public faith in the service.
In an email to staff, director-general Kevin Bakhurst announced he was disbanding the executive board in charge of the day-to-day running of the almost century-old broadcaster and would unveil a new interim team later on Monday.
“The culture in RTÉ needs change, from top to bottom,” said Bakhurst, in his first act as boss. “I am absolutely determined to introduce that change and reform which will help us draw a line under this shameful period in RTÉ’s history and to start rebuilding trust in public service broadcasting.”
Bakhurst also promised a new culture of transparency over the pay of senior managers and top presenters and a register of contractor interests after the worst scandal in the broadcaster’s history erupted last month.
It prompted Leo Varadkar, taoiseach, to demand change and to promise a review of the €160 annual television licence fee, which supplies slightly more than half of the broadcaster’s funding.
The scandal began when it emerged that Ryan Tubridy, a longtime presenter of flagship TV chat programme The Late Late Show and a radio slot, received hundreds of thousands of euros in undisclosed and hidden payments.
Some were funnelled through a special advertising account, which was also used for lavish spending on restaurants, concerts and even €5,000 on flip-flops for client events. RTÉ is also reliant on advertising and sponsorship.
The saga has become a national soap opera, gripping Ireland as embarrassing details have dribbled out in a series of parliamentary hearings in which executives squirmed as they were grilled for hours.
They included a €2.2mn loss on an RTÉ Christmas musical flop and exposed a web of celebrity product endorsements by the broadcaster’s stars.
“Like you, I have been appalled by recent events and the impact it has had on the public perception of RTÉ,” Bakhurst, a former senior BBC news editor, said in his email to staff.
“I am standing down the Executive Board today. It will be replaced with a temporary interim leadership team to continue running the organisation. In due course, there will be a new permanent leadership team,” he added.
RTÉ, which began broadcasting on the radio in 1926 and on TV in 1960, also has a governing board, which remains in place. Its chair, Siún Ní Raghallaigh, told a parliamentary committee at the end of June that €345,000 in hidden payments to Tubridy over several years had been an act “designed to deceive”.
The revelations have highlighted a lack of transparency and an absence of communication between managers and the governing board. Some legislators dubbed the use of the so-called barter advertising account for hidden payments a “slush fund”.
Bakhurst vowed to eradicate the “siloed and at times secretive decision-making” culture at RTÉ. “As custodians of public money, our financial integrity must be on a par with our editorial integrity,” he said.
A number of presenters’ additional roles as brand ambassadors have also come into the spotlight after it emerged that RTÉ guaranteed some payments to Tubridy in relation to his contract with carmaker Renault.
Station morale was further undermined by the news that Tubridy was promised there would be no cut to his pay at a time when reductions were sought from other staff. There were details of lavish client spending — including the €4,200 membership of a private London club — while RTÉ’s London correspondent had to file dispatches from café toilets after the station closed its office.
Tubridy, who stepped down from The Late Late Show last month, is not accused of wrongdoing but he has been taken off air indefinitely.
He and his influential agent, Noel Kelly, who also represents other RTÉ stars, were due to address parliamentary committees on Tuesday. The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Several pubs in Dublin are preparing to screen the hearings in a sign of public interest in the scandal.