RTÉ must publish details of the settlement made by TD Beverley Flynn in respect of its legal fees for her failed libel case against it, Fine Gael said today.
Communications spokesman Bernard Durkan said RTÉ should publish the details and explain how it intends to pay for the shortfall the settlement has resulted in.
The broadcaster said Ms Flynn owed it more than €2.8 million but it has agreed a settlement with her for a sum reported to be between €1.2 million-€1.3 million.
"This is less than half of RTE's total legal bill of €2.8 million resulting from her libel action," Mr Durkan said.
"RTÉ must explain to licence fee payers why it decided to forego such a huge amount of money and what is the likely result in terms of the financial well-being of the organisation as well as any cutbacks in programming that might result.
"Also, ill this decision have any impact on licence fee levels for next year?"
Mr Durkan said RTE's Vision, Mission and Values document "states clearly that it will 'deliver a value for money service' and 'be honest and transparent in all of its activities'.
"In order to meet these commitments, the station must now spell out the nature of this settlement and the reasons behind it.
"It must also spell out exactly how it will ensure that the costs it has incurred as a result of the settlement, and the wider import of the decision, will not negatively affect investigative journalism in the future."