RTÉ paid out €2.6m in golden handshakes to executives during Dee Forbes’s reign

The broadcaster’s accounts reveal the significant payments across six years to “key management personnel” receiving “termination benefits”.

The revelation comes after it emerged a €450,000 exit package was given to former RTÉ chief financial officer Breda O’Keeffe.

And “goodbye money” was also paid out to at least two other departing executives last year.

RTÉ is currently seeking legal advice on disclosing the individual exit packages of former executives.

But a review by the Irish Independent of RTÉ’s annual reports shows sums up to €700,000 being forked out in one year.

The annual reports show €300,000 being paid in 2022, €0 in 2021, €400,000 in 2020, €600,000 in 2019, €600,000 in 2018 and €700,000 in 2017. The 2017 payments says they were “in accordance with the terms of the Voluntary Exit Package 2017 programme”.

The “key management personnel” covered under those payments can include “the RTÉ board, the director general, the RTÉ executive and the corporate functions reporting directly to the director general”.

RTÉ sources say there was a “culture of termination payments” in the organisation during the past few years.

The national broadcaster is coming under increasing pressure to disclose who received the payments.

Fine Gael TD Alan Dillon, who forced RTÉ to reveal Ms O’Keeffe’s payments, now wants the amounts and details of all exit packages.

The information will be formally requested from the RTÉ board.

Sinn Féin finance spokesman Pearse Doherty also wants full disclosure on exit packages.

But RTÉ said yesterday it cannot give information on the payments from 2016 to 2022. “RTÉ is not in a position to provide further details on any of the cases referred to for legal reasons,” said a spokesperson.

In the most recent report, the RTÉ annual report 2022, €300,000 was paid out, but the broadcaster can’t say who received the payments: “RTÉ is not in a position to provide such details relating to individuals for legal reasons.”

Former CFO Breda O’Keeffe received €450,000 exit payment when leaving RTÉ, Kevin Bakhurst says at Oireachtas committee _duplicated

RTÉ also cannot say what executives have had exit packages or special retirement payments or redundancies in the past five years.

“While a number of RTÉ executives have left the organisation during this period, RTÉ is not in a position to provide further details for legal reasons,” said the spokesperson.

During this week’s committee hearings, Mr Bakhurst confirmed that RTÉ’s former director of strategy Rory Coveney, who was behind the flop Toy Show The Musical, and former RTÉ chief financial officer Richard Collins, both received exit packages.

But he refused to give details of these exit packages, citing legal constraints.

“RTÉ has previously received advice that it is restricted from providing details regarding the departures of individuals from RTÉ.

“This was previously shared with both the Public Accounts Committee and the Joint Oireachtas Committee. Kevin Bakhurst has sought an update to this legal advice,” an RTÉ spokesperson said.

Tánaiste Micheál Martin said the €450,000 payment to Ms O’Keeffe should be “reassessed” and if it is too high then some of it should be paid back.

His comments come after the chair of the Dail’s public spending watchdog, Sinn Féin TD Brian Stanley, called on Ms O’Keeffe to pay the money back.

“I think the absence of transparency on this has been quite shocking,” Mr Martin said.

“Any redundancy package [should be] within the framework of the existing schemes and within RTÉ and its procedures.

“I just cannot comprehend how packages were agreed without the agreement of the executive at the time.

“What I believe should happen is the particular package should be reassessed in the context of agreed procedures.

“If the amount is far too high, in respect of agreed procedures, then the proper package should be identified and the remainder handed back.”

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said senior RTÉ figures at the centre of the long-running pay controversy should appear at an Oireachtas committee hearing at least once.

However, the Taoiseach failed to respond on whether former RTÉ director of strategy Rory Coveney, who is the brother of Fine Gael deputy leader Simon Coveney, should return to an Oireachtas committee to discuss revelations about his role in the Toy Show The Musical debacle.

Simon Coveney also failed to respond when contacted by the Irish Independent yesterday.

Mr Varadkar said: “In fairness to a number of the senior staff in RTÉ and the current chairperson, director general and board members, they have come before the committee several times and answered questions for 10-20 hours. So, I think that shouldn’t be forgotten.

“There are others, however, who have refused to even come before the committee once. If it is on health grounds, and they are genuine health grounds, fair enough.

“But I think anyone should at least once be willing to come before the committee to tell their story.

“You know, they may have a story to tell, they maybe be able to shine new light on these issues and the committee does have the power to compel people if they have to.

Speaking in the Dail, Mr Doherty said the redundancy package was “cooked up” between Ms O’Keeffe and Ms Forbes.

“A golden handshake to the value of 10 times the average salary in this state, cooked up behind closed doors with no sign off, no tax paid, no disclosure until yesterday,” Mr Doherty said.

“You couldn’t make it up. It is damning and people are sick to their back teeth at what is going on and what has gone on in RTÉ.”​

Mr Bakhurst will seek new legal advice on whether the figures of voluntary exit packages can be revealed.

Media Minister Catherine Martin spoke to Mr Bakhurst and said there is a need for “maximum transparency” when in comes to exit packages.

Mr Bakhurst has vowed to seek “updated legal advice in relation to the disclosure of details of individual exit packages”.

The director general told the minister the €450,000 voluntary exit package for Ms O’Keeffe “does not need to be reassessed”.

“He is confident that it is the correct amount,” said a spokesperson for the broadcaster.