RTÉ paid back €2.4m in covid subsidies it was not entitled to
A number of RTÉ representatives, including director general Kevin Bakhurst, will come before the Oireachtas media committee, with chairman Alan Kelly saying he wants to discuss matters relating to policy, governance, expenditure, and administration at the broadcaster.
In an opening statement sent to committee members and seen by the Irish Examiner, RTÉ will say that it last year reviewed its eligibility for the temporary wage subsidy scheme (TWSS) which during the covid-19 pandemic paid part of employee wages for qualifying companies.
The review found that the broadcaster had availed of the scheme between March and August 2020 and, as a result, RTÉ repaid the TWSS subsidy for the periods July and August 2020.
"This repayment, together with the PRSI that would have been due had the subsidy not been claimed, amounted to €2.4m."
Terence O'Rourke, the chairman of the RTÉ board, will attend the media committee along with Kevin Bakhurst and eight senior RTÉ managers. File picture: Sam Boal/Collins
In total, €2.7m has been paid to the Revenue Commissioners — the repayment plus interest and penalties. This resulted in a "net credit to the income statement of €2.6 million during 2024 as RTÉ had previously provided for full repayment of all amounts received for its participation in the scheme", the statement says.
In addition, RTÉ says it "continues to engage fully with the Revenue Commissioners in relation to a Revenue audit" which commenced in 2024 and has made payments of €1.1m to date.
Controversial IT project
Mr Bakhurst and the chairman of the RTÉ board, Terence O'Rourke, and eight senior managers will appear before the committee. Among the matters to be discussed will be the €3.6m write-down on a partly-abandoned IT project, which Mr Bakhurst will say is "an outlier within the overall portfolio of our capital expenditure projects".
"It is extremely regrettable when dealing with public funds to have to write down significant sums of money, and I want to underline the fact that we have taken this very seriously and have spent considerable time looking into the details of the project and the process," the statement says.
IT project was 'an outlier'
"Thanks to the efforts of many, an effective finance system was salvaged, implemented and continues to operate today.
"An expert and independent review was commissioned at the end of the project to identify the key lessons to be learned, and it is important to say that in our review of large capital projects for the minister and the department, it was very clear that this project was an outlier within a much larger portfolio of projects."
'Ridiculous' marketing campaign
RTÉ management is also set to be asked about a marketing campaign which uses extras and props, which Mr Kelly on Tuesday called "absolutely ridiculous".
"Workers who are working in your environment, whether in front of camera, behind the camera, they all know the environment they're working in," Mr Kelly told RTÉ's Morning Ireland.
"They all know what they have to deal with, day in, day out, and presenting something that isn't actually the real deal or close to it; where actors have been brought in, where props have been brought in for something is presented as if this is RTÉ ... I mean it's just not a good way of doing it," he said.
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