RTÉ to hold external review into severance packages for senior staff following PAC revelations

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has welcomed the announcement of an independent review of RTÉ's voluntary exit schemes.

The external review was announced by the director general Kevin Bakhurst on Thursday evening and will proceed in tandem with the work of the Government’s review of contractor fees and human resources.

NUJ Irish secretary Séamus Dooley said in a statement. “We welcome this review and look forward to full publication of the findings.”

Mr Bakhurst ordered the review following fresh evidence given at the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) this week.

The PAC heard from RTÉ chief financial officer Richard Collins who said he had no knowledge of a severance package paid to predecessor Breda O’Keeffe in 2020.

This is despite the fact that Mr Collins was on the executive board at the time that was supposed to sign off on such packages.

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Interim deputy director general Adrian Lynch, who was also on the executive board at the time, said he only became aware of the payout to Ms O’Keeffe last week.

Mr Dooley said: “There has long been concerns at the lack of transparency and the inconsistency in the handling of applications. There is no appeal procedure under the schemes.

“All applications for such schemes must be treated fairly and all applicants are entitled to have their cases considered on the same basis.

“In some cases, there were serious procedural gaps in the approval process and the review must examine whether there was a two-tier system in operation. Our members want to know who else was granted the package outside those rules.

“Given the existence of a gold-plated executive pension scheme the early retirement option is extremely attractive.”

Mr Bakhurst made the announced in an email to staff. He said: “Details of the review, which will feed into the Government’s review of contractor fees, human resources (HR) and other matters, will be announced as soon as possible.”

When the issue was raised at the PAC by Labour TD Alan Kelly, Mr Bakhurst responded: “This is an issue that I take very seriously because this is exactly about bringing significant decisions to the executive.”

Later, Mr Bakhurst, under questioning from Fine Gael’s Colm Burke, said the package was agreed between his predecessor, Dee Forbes, and Ms O’Keeffe.

Ms O’Keeffe left RTÉ in March 2020 after 17 years and was replaced by Mr Collins.