Live: RTÉ's leadership team appear before Oireachtas Media Committee
47 minutes ago
RTÉ's management team is before the Committee on the Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport being quizzed on a number of recent controversies.
They include a €3.7 million write down on an partially abandoned IT project RTÉ to replace its legacy finance and human resources system.
Follow our live updates below.
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Harry McGee -
5 minutes ago
Kevin Bakhurst is addressing the €3.6 million impairment on RTÉ ICT project
The Director General is now answering questions being put by Malcolm Byrne of Fianna Fáil. He says that the broadcaster's audit and risk committee was aware in 2023 about the issue, and that write-offs were included in RTÉ accounts. He added that the amount was written off over a period of several years.
So
— Harry McGee (@harrymcgee)
Harry McGee -
8 minutes ago
More Details on breakdown on ICT system
From Kevin Bakhurst's opening statement: 'The new system kicked off in 2016. It was a large scale but essential capital project that was probably too ambitious and ultimately did to achieve all that was originally hoped. It is extremely regrettable when dealing with public funds to have to write down significant sums of money.'
He argues that it was an outlier, one of only 39 capital projects that were completed successfully. 'Despite what some of the commentary may imply, the various systems and project management standards in place in RTÉ have proven effective in ensure that the correct outcomes are achieved.'
Harry McGee -
12 minutes ago
The meeting of the Committee has just started with chairman Alan Kelly running through the list of RTÉ witnesses.
Chairman Alan Kelly opens the meeting of the Arts, Media and Culture committee examining governance issues at RTÉ. Follow live coverage on
— Harry McGee (@harrymcgee)
Harry McGee -
47 minutes ago
It has taken many months for the Oireachtas Committees to be set up but today sees one of the first meaningful engagements by a committee inquiring into an area of public interest.
RTÉ's management team led by director general
Kevin Bakhurst
is before the Committee on the Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport and will be quizzed on a number of recent controversies.
They include a €3.7 million write down on an partially abandoned IT project RTÉ to replace its legacy finance and human resources system.
The broadcaster said at the time that the impairments were noted in its annual accounts during the years 2020 to 2023. However, they only came to public attention when the broadcaster made a disclosure to Minister for Media and Culture Patrick O'Donovan earlier this year.
Mr Bakhurst's opening statement will also disclose that RTÉ handed over more than €4 million in unpaid social welfare contributions related to the misclassification of some workers in the organisation as self-employed contractors.
Ian Curran
reports in The Irish Times on Mr Bakhurst's opening statement
. It is expected to say that RTÉ has made payments of €1.1 million to the Revenue Commissioners to date relating to an audit of its finances that began last year.
In the appendix to his remarks submitted ahead of today's meeting, RTÉ noted a €3.2 million settlement to the Department of Social Protection relating to its review of some 655 alleged cases of Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI) misclassification at the broadcaster.
The committee, chaired by Alan Kelly of the Labour Party, will also question the RTÉ executives on a number of other issues including a proposed TV advert for the newsroom, which has been the subject of some criticism.
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