Siún Ní Raghallaigh, the chair of the board of RTÉ, has announced she is resigning from her position, just hours after Minister for Media, Catherine Martin, said she had been “misinformed” by assurances the board had no role in signing off on controversial exit packages for senior executives.
In a statement released just before 1am this morning, Ms Ní Raghallaigh said it was “abundantly clear” she no longer had the confidence of the Minister, and that her resignation is “a source of sadness to me, but it is unavoidable”.
She said that her assurances to the Minister were “not an intentional misrepresentation” but that she had “neglected to recollect that Richard Collins’ exit package did go before the Remuneration Committee”.
Last night, Minister Martin said that she had received assurances at a meeting with Ms Ní Raghallaigh on Monday of this week that the board had no role “whatsoever” in signing off on the two most recent exit packages for senior executives, and that she was “deeply disappointed” to find that the approval for the second exit package, for former CFO Richard Collins, had, in fact, been signed off by the Remuneration committee which Ms Uí Raghallaigh also chaired.
She said that she had been “misinformed” on two occasions wanted to meet Ms Uí Raghallaigh to discuss the matter today. However, the Chair of the RTÉ Board has now resigned.
"Have you lost confidence in the chair of the RTÉ Board?"
"I'm deeply disappointed…" Media Minister Catherine Martin tells @MiriamOCal, as she reveals she was misinformed about the role of the board in the approval of a key recent exit package.#rtept | @RTENews pic.twitter.com/16kf8CrGDf
— RTÉ Prime Time (@RTE_PrimeTime) February 22, 2024
In her statement, Ms Ní Raghallaigh said her position was “no longer tenable” because it was “abundantly clear” she had lost the confidence of the Minister.
“This evening, after consultation with the Board and Director General Kevin Bakhurst, I have decided to resign from my position,” she said.
“I informed the Department about the process which led to Richard’s departure from RTÉ, on October 10th, the day after it was approved at the Remuneration Committee.
“I met with the Minister and her officials, with the Director General, on two occasions for more than three hours this week, dealing with multiple questions across a wide range of issues.
“I was asked if the Board knew about the exit packages for Rory Coveney and Richard Collins. I said that I was aware of them, but they had not come before the full Board.
“However, I neglected to recollect that Richard Collin’s exit package did go before the Renumeration Committee.”
She said that it had been made known to her yesterday morning (Thursday) that the package for the CFO had been before the Remuneration Committee.
“This morning, in a communication through my officials, it was made known to me that the package for Richard Collins went before the Remuneration Committee so there was a process there where the Board had approval,” she said.
“This was not an intentional misrepresentation, and I subsequently contacted the Department to clarify the details and remind them that I had previously appraised them of the matter in October,” she continued.
RTE’s director general Kevin Bakhurst and RTÉ Chair Siún Ní Raghallaigh arrive at the Department of Arts and Media after the Minister summoned them in for a meeting about exit packages given to former top executives – she will “re-emphasise” the need for transparency. pic.twitter.com/jHWBcdDq5s
— Aisling Moloney (@AislingTM) February 19, 2024
“Serving as Chair of the RTÉ Board is a privilege which requires the confidence of the Minister. It is abundantly clear that I no longer do,” she said.
“My resignation is a source of sadness to me, but it is unavoidable.
“There is a very urgent need for the funding model of RTÉ to be restored and for the transformation process to continue apace. I do not want this matter to distract from that. That must remain our unswerving collective objective,” Ms Ní Raghallaigh said in conclusion.
RTÉ’s Director General, Mr Kevin Bakhurst, in a statement, said Ms Ní Raghallaigh had been “an excellent Chair” who would be “sorely missed”.