In an extraordinary move that highlights the severity of the crisis at the national broadcaster, RTÉ, the Media Minister, Catherine Martin, will exercise her authority under the Broadcasting Act to appoint an independent party to examine the organization’s financial records. The Cabinet is expected to approve this decision on Tuesday, indicating that the government is dissatisfied with RTÉ’s lack of transparency regarding its finances. This development coincides with a recent poll conducted by the Sunday Independent/Ireland Thinks, which revealed that almost half of the Irish public believe that Ryan Tubridy should not be allowed to return to RTÉ. Additionally, more than half of the respondents reported decreased trust in the station, and nearly one-third claimed they no longer intend to pay their TV license.
These findings raise concerns about the future funding of public service broadcasting, as only a third of those polled confirmed their intention to pay the license fee when due. Alarmingly, the poll also exposed a €1.25 million “slush fund” within RTÉ that has been used for undisclosed payments to Tubridy and to entertain advertising clients at sports and music events over the past decade. An overwhelming 87% of the public deemed this use of funds inappropriate, while 95% advocated for transparency in transactions made through the so-called barter account.
To address these issues, Minister Martin will appoint an external individual, potentially an accountant or auditor, to scrutinize RTÉ’s financial records in accordance with the Broadcasting Act. Alongside this, an external review panel will assess the organization’s governance and culture under terms of reference likely to be approved by ministers on Tuesday. RTÉ has pledged its cooperation with the review team, but the government views the appointment of an additional party as essential to ensure swift access to information required for the review’s completion.
Furthermore, it has come to light that RTÉ’s funding model, comprising a mix of public and private sources, fails to align with the principle upheld by the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) that commercial semi-state bodies should primarily rely on non-public funding. This situation, where the majority of RTÉ’s income is derived from the TV license fee, is considered untenable by senior government sources who suggest that returning RTÉ to the audit function of the C&AG, as was the case until 1990, is an obvious solution.
The Sunday Independent/Ireland Thinks poll offers insight into public sentiment surrounding the scandal. Forty-seven percent of respondents believe that Ryan Tubridy should never resume broadcasting at RTÉ, while trust in the station has diminished for 55% of participants, with 35% claiming they never trusted RTÉ to begin with. Opinion is divided on the €250,000 fee paid to new Late Late Show host Patrick Kielty, with 40% regarding it as acceptable and 52% considering it excessive. The blame for the crisis rests primarily on RTÉ management, with 73% of respondents holding the entire executive board responsible for the secret payments scandal. Only a small percentage attributed blame to Tubridy himself or his agent, Noel Kelly. Interestingly, former RTÉ director general Dee Forbes, who resigned after misleading the board about the payments, was singled out as the most culpable by merely 12% of respondents.
When asked whether there had been too much focus on the scandal since its revelation over a week ago, 67% of respondents disagreed, while 28% agreed, and 5% were unsure.
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