RTÉ now facing tax bill from €450,000 exit payment to Breda O’Keeffe

In the latest scandal to rock RTÉ, bosses at the station revealed its ex-chief financial officer received an exit package of €450,000. Her deal with former director general Dee Forbes was not signed off by management.

And the RTÉ HR manager – who processed the payment and is still working in Montrose – was told her position was not tenable in the eyes of the public.

Now there is a tax liability arising, as the redundancy didn’t meet the criteria for tax relief to be applied.

RTÉ has acknowledged it has “no estimate” of the potential cost of the tax bill arising from Ms O’Keeffe’s redundancy.

The broadcaster has reported the payment to Revenue, and has confirmed it will have to foot any tax bill – not Ms O’Keeffe.

The bombshell announcement came during tense exchanges at the Oireachtas Media Committee.

Addressing Fine Gael TD Alan Dillon, RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst said he couldn’t divulge details relating to what the package is worth. He said it was “confidential”.

“We have had significant legal pressure over months to get this report out and to deal with this issue,” he said.

“There is a legal threat over this.”

However, Mr Bakhurst eventually said: “Breda O’Keeffe was paid €450,000 to leave.”

He said he had no knowledge that Ms O’Keeffe had taken an exit package until she said it at an Oireachtas Committee hearing.

Mr Bakhurst stated that, upon being made aware of this information, he went “straight” to RTÉ human resources director Eimear Cusack and she “gave the details”.

It emerged that Ms Cusack processed the redundancy payment, on instructions from Ms Forbes.

She also signed a letter to Ms O’Keeffe saying the redundancy payment had been “approved by the executive”, when it had not been.

Last night, Public Accounts Committee chair Brian Stanley told the Irish Independent that Ms O’Keeffe should pay back the €450,000 exit payment from RTE. “Breda O’Keeffe should now pay back the money,” he said.

“There was no redundancy here. The post was not extinguished. The post was filled by another person when she left.

“It’s clear that this wasn’t a redundancy. There was no justification for it. It was a goodbye package.”

Mr Stanley said there is no “legal basis” for her to pay back the money but added that there is a “moral basis”.

He also suggested that Ms Cusack should consider her position at the national broadcaster.

The HR director was repeatedly questioned by TDs about why she did not tell other members of the executive about the payment to Ms O’Keeffe.

Mr Bakhurst has expressed “full confidence” in Ms Cusack. But he also told the committee it was “concerning to me the way Breda’s package was agreed”.

He said he has “absolute sympathy for the staff who are outraged about it because I’m fairly outraged about it”.

Meanwhile, RTÉ cannot provide details about the size of Ms O’Keeffe’s pension package. When she left the organisation after 18 years of service, she was on a salary of €200,000 per annum.

In a statement last night, the broadcaster said: “RTÉ cannot comment beyond what was stated by RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst in today’s Joint Oireachtas Committee meeting.”

Mr Bakhurst also disclosed that the RTÉ executive in charge of Toy Show The Musical left with an exit package.

Former RTÉ director of strategy Rory Coveney resigned from his position in the wake of the scandal surrounding the musical, which lost €2.2m.

Last night, the Irish Independent asked RTÉ whether former RTÉ executives Richard Collins and Geraldine O’Leary received exit packages upon their departures from the broadcaster.

In a statement, it replied: “Neither Geraldine O’Leary nor Richard Collins left RTÉ as part of an exit scheme.

“Geraldine O’Leary took early retirement. Richard Collins resigned from RTÉ. RTÉ cannot disclose further details.”

The value of the payment to Ms O’Keeffe came to light yesterday as RTÉ executives and board members appeared before the Oireachtas Media committee following the publication of two reports.

One of the reports focused on two voluntary exit schemes at RTÉ, while the other concentrated on Toy Show The Musical.

Formal approval by the RTÉ board for the musical was neither sought nor provided, despite it being a requirement for any projects costing more than €2m.

Chair of the RTÉ board, Siún Ní Raghallaigh, and Mr Bakhurst, reaffirmed their aim to reform and win back public trust at RTE following a series of controversies last year.

Mr Bakhurst said he cannot give “a categorical guarantee” that nothing else will come to light.

However, he added: “I sincerely hope there is nothing else. I’m not aware of anything.”

Niamh Smyth, the Oireachtas Committee chair, urged Ms Forbes to come before the committee.

Speaking at the start of the committee, Ms Smyth said it was “regrettable” that a number of ex-board members could not attend the committee meeting.