RTÉ gears up for legal challenges amid Bakhurst reforms

Predictably, the latest chapter in the RTÉ drama dominated the front pages on Sunday with all the main titles carrying their own spin on the affair, which took a twist in recent days when the national broadcaster said negotiations with Ryan Tubridy over a new contract had ended without agreement.

The Business Post reported that the national broadcaster was preparing for potential legal challenges stemming from director general Kevin Bakhurst’s planned reforms. Mr Bakhurst is anticipating difficult conversations with employees as roles are changed as part of his reform agenda.

The Sunday Independent, meanwhile, reported that people close to Mr Tubridy believe RTÉ was “looking for a reason” to terminate the plan to bring him back in September, while a story in the Mail on Sunday indicated that RTÉ was unlikely to ask for the former Late Late Show host to hand back the €150,000 he offered to repay.

‘Devastated’ Tower Trade investors to recover just €2m

Some 200 investors in supply-chain finance company Tower Trade have been told that just €2 million of the €13.5 million they pumped into the business is recoverable in the liquidation, according to the Sunday Independent.

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The firm, which was previously linked to the FAI’s former kit supplier, collapsed into examinership and then liquidation earlier this year, less than a year after petitioning the High Court to have Topline/Jacc Sports Distributors wound up over a €6.8 million debt in 2022.

Tower, an unregulated firm that offered short-term financing to business, has just €1.1 million left in its bank account, according to liquidator Declan McDonald of PwC, with a further €1 million expected from the Revenue in the form of a VAT refund.

Czech firm pulls plug on €155m gas plant project

Citing rising construction costs, the Czech company behind the Tynagh power station in Loughrea, Co Galway, has axed plans to build a new gas plant on the site, the Sunday Times reported.

EP Energy Developments said its project costs had soared by more than 40 per cent with the total bill expected to be €155 million, up from an estimated €110 million.

In this context, the board of the company – which won a Government contract in 2021 to supply additional energy to the electricity grid – said the project was “no longer economically viable”.

Bank of Ireland chief faces calls to resign over IT meltdown

Consumer rights advocates have called for Bank of Ireland chief executive Myles O’Grady to resign over last week’s IT meltdown, the Mail on Sunday reported.

The bank, which faced two separate issues with its IT infrastructure last week, made international headlines after chaotic scenes were recorded at ATMs across the country when a technical fault allowed customers to withdraw more money than they had in their accounts.

Michael Kilcoyne, chair of the Consumers’ Association of Ireland, told the paper: “People are paid to be responsible for the operation of the bank and the final decision rests with the CEO. He’s accountable and if he can’t ensure that the IT system and the banking service is as it should be and that consumers have confidence in it, there is no point in him being there.”

Lifetime loans a ‘ticking time bomb’ for Fair Deal applicants

The revival of so-called “lifetime loans” for the over-60s is a “ticking time bomb” for future Fair Deal applicants who could find themselves locked out of the scheme, the Sunday Independent reported.

Otherwise known as equity-release loans, lifetime loans are aimed at older homeowners, typically allowing them to borrow up to 40 per cent of the value of their house without making repayments while they are still alive. They were, before the crash, ubiquitous in the Irish market before waning in popularity only to be revived in recent years by smaller financial firms.

But accountant Tom Murray, a Fair Deal specialist, warns that homeowners who take out one of these loans could find themselves ineligible for the nursing home scheme because the Health Service Executive doesn’t regard a lifetime loan as an allowable deduction.