Minister Catherine Martin’s position ‘now untenable’ – Labour

Catherine Martin’s position as Media Minister is “now untenable”, the Labor Party has said.

Politicians are reacting to RTÉ Board chairman Siun Ni Raghallaigh resigning overnight after Miss Martin failed to inform her during a television interview.

Miss Martin said she was “misinformed” about the approval of a severance package for the former RTÉ executive and was “very disappointed” when she was asked to express confidence in Ms Ni Raghallaigh.

The Labor Party has “summarily sacked” the minister from her post on air, with the chairman of the Public Accounts committee accusing Mr Martin of “jumping the gun a bit”.

Justice Minister Helen McEntee said Mr Martin had not effectively fired the RTÉ chairman with his Prime Time interview.

She said she was “describing the facts as they came to light” and that they “need and wanted” to speak to Mr Ni Raghallaigh on Friday.

“She didn’t expel her. In fact, she has clearly stated the enormous amount of work Siun has done over the past few months.”

RTE has been scrutinized for releasing details of executive severance packages dating back to 2016.

On Thursday he published legal advice which said RTÉ would face an “avoidable legal challenge” if contract details of former and current employees were publicly released.

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Questions have been raised about the governance of severance packages after it was revealed that former chief financial officer Breda O’Keeffe was paid €450,000 which was not approved under the terms of a voluntary redundancy programme.

Appearing on Prime Time on Thursday night, Ms Martin said she had been given repeated assurances that the RTÉ board had no role in the signing of a severance package for RTÉ’s former chief financial officer, Richard Collins.

However, it has since come to light that Mr Collins’ retirement arrangements were approved by the board’s remuneration committee, of which Ms Ni Raghallaigh is a member.

The Minister said she was seeking an urgent meeting with Mr Ni Raghallaigh on Friday about the situation.

Hours later, however, Mr Ni Raghallaigh said it was “absolutely clear” that her position was no longer tenable as she had lost confidence in Mr Martin.

In her statement, released just before 1am on Friday, she said her misrepresentation of the process was not “timely”.

Ms Ni Raghallaigh said she was asked during a meeting with Mr Martin earlier in the week if the board knew about the severance packages for former strategy director Rory Coveney and Mr Collins.

“I said I was aware of them, but they didn’t come before the full board. However, I neglected to mention that Richard Collins’ severance package went before the remuneration committee.”

Miss Ní Raghallaigh said RTÉ Director General Kevin Bakhurst was also present at the two meetings with the Minister and his officials this week, which lasted more than three hours.

Labour’s Marie Sherlock said Ms Martin’s TV interview amounted to a “summary dismissal” of the RTÉ chairman live on air, and said Ms Martin’s position was “now indefensible”.

She said that from the beginning of the crisis, Ms Martin was “on the back foot” and “failed to ask the most basic questions”.

She said that it appears from Ms Ni Raghallaigh’s resignation statement, that details of severance packages from former RTÉ executives were in the possession of the Media Department, which she said should be “published in full immediately”.

“The Taoiseach and the Tánaiste must now reflect on how the Minister of Media has handled this whole debate and ask: is she the person who would ensure that the necessary reforms are made to RTÉ that will be vital to its survival, and the she is the person who can be restored. public trust in the State broadcaster?”

The Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, Brian Stanley, said that the gun had “jumped a bit” and “she should keep her powder dry” and wait to meet Ms Ni Raghallaigh.

“I believe the minister was waiting until she had a chance to speak to Siun Ni Raghallaigh and hear exactly what Siun Ni Raghallaigh had to say. And then she could judge whether she trusted or not.”

He said that Ms Ni Raghallaigh had made a “very comprehensive statement” which raised further questions.

“Maybe the Minister has made the right decision, maybe the Minister has not made the right decision, but what I am saying is … there are some lines in (Ms Ni Raghallaigh’s statement) which questions arise, and the Minister should have stayed. that was beaten out by Siun Ni Raghallaigh until next day.

“When a minister goes on television without any announcement, I assume, to Siun Ni Raghallaigh or anyone else, and he does not trust, he refuses to express confidence in the head of the board at RTÉ, which creates a situation completely new.”

Senator Malcolm Byrne, a member of the media committee, said he did not believe Ms Martin should have the interview before the meeting scheduled for Friday.

“I would prefer that any decisions be made after discussions between the Minister and the chairman.

“If it emerges that the department was aware of the process surrounding Richard Collins’ severance package, this brings the department into this dispute.

He added: “Siun Ni Raghallaigh is a dedicated public servant and has been honest and competent in her dealings with our committee. She and Kevin Bakhurst are trying to reform a very difficult organization.”

Ms McEntee said: “Minister Martin did not ask anyone to step aside and we need to be clear about that, she promised to do an interview and she did not refuse that. What she did is the facts as it happened this week.

“I think the difficulty here is that we all want to trust RTÉ, we want to trust the people who are managing it, and we want to move forward. And unfortunately, when information is constantly coming our way on a number of different issues, it is very difficult to trust them.

“Of course this will add to the challenges facing RTÉ now.”

Media Minister Catherine Martin thanked Ms Ni Raghallaigh for her service from November 2022 as chair of the RTÉ Board.

“At this critical time for RTÉ, it is vital that we continue the important process of restoring trust in the organisation. As Miss Ní Raghallaigh said, there is an urgent need to continue the transformation process and implement a sustainable funding model – I am very committed to this,” said Mr Martin in a statement.