A Bill has been launched to address the overpayment of top talent at the national broadcaster, RTÉ. The Broadcasting (Restriction of Salaries) Bill 2023 was introduced in the Seanad on Wednesday by Senator Rónán Mullen.
The Independent Senator said that the salary to be received by the incoming host of the Late Late Show, Patrick Kielty – who will earn €250,000 for each 30-show series – is at the “borderline” of what should be permissible in a public service broadcaster.
The Bill caps the total remuneration of any person working in RTE or TG4 at the equivalent of a Government Minister’s salary.
It would amend the Broadcasting Act (2009) to provide for transparency in the public interest “in relation to the remuneration of certain individuals pursuant to contracts of employment and contracts for services with corporations, and to provide for connected matters,” the Independent Senator said today.
The Bill is now set to take second stage and be debated next Tuesday, 4 July.
Speaking on Thursday, Senator Mullen told fellow Senators that there is a “crisis of transparency and accountability” at play – as he spoke about the crisis at RTÉ, which follows revelations over secret payments made to Late Late Show host, Ryan Tubridy, which saw the TV and radio host paid €345,000 more than had been published in the Irish broadcaster’s earnings reports.
Mr Mullen spoke of “major public concern” about the possibility that “arrangements were made to deal with certain people’s salaries in a manner designed to deceive the public” as to the true nature of such salaries, while accepting that full details are not yet known.
The senator said that there has been concern for a long time over the issue of salaries within the public service broadcaster.
“The reason, notwithstanding the commercial dimension of RTÉ’s activities, is that once you are talking about the significant amount of public funding that comes from the television licence, you are dealing with the reality that money is fungible and that any salaries, howsoever constructed or sourced through private contractual arrangements or contracts of service, are therefore ultimately about the use of public funding,” he told the Seanad.
“There are market realities as to whether it is really the case that major salaries have to be paid to secure the services of certain people and whether those services are essential.
“There is the reality that being in a prominent role in a public service broadcaster contributes to significant earning potential outside of the broadcaster by way of private engagement,” he added.
The Bill, set to be discussed in the Seanad next week, seeks to limit any salaries – howsoever constructed through contract or otherwise – so that remuneration is not more than that of a Minister, while taking into account public service benefits.
It would require the publication of any salaries that are equivalent to those of a Dáil Deputy, and would also provide that it is an offence to breach those caps, and that it will be an offence – with serious penalties – to cause the public to be “deceived” in any way relating to salary levels.
The Bill also has two other provisions: it would be a contractual requirement that those employed would not disclose their personal views on matters of public controversy, and it would require RTÉ to set out the sanctions to apply where breaches of the codes are found by the compliance committee.
“I hope it will get a good debate in the Seanad next week. I hope there will be support on all sides of the House for it,” the Senator said.
Taking to social media, Senator Mullen said that he believed the Bill was “only a starting point in addressing RTE’s myriad failures in providing a proper public service”.
The introduction of the Bill comes as it was revealed earlier today that RTÉ used its a barter account to pay €275,000 for tickets and travel for clients for the Rugby World Cup, 10-year IRFU tickets and the 2019 Champions League Final.
During a four-hour-long Oireachtas Committee, it emerged that a staggering €111,000 was spent for travel and hotels to bring clients to Rugby World Cup in 2019; IRFU tickets at a cost of €138,000; and tickets to the Champions League final at a cost of €26,000.
The spending was described as “outrageous” by the Chair of the board.