Members of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) at RTÉ have expressed concern about the impact of "undisclosed payments" to presenter Ryan Tubridy and the "secretive arrangement with a third party" on trust in the broadcaster.
Union members held an emergency meeting this afternoon to discuss the issue and unanimously adopted a motion in which they expressed their "anger" at the "failure" of management to address the concerns.
"NUJ members in RTÉ remain committed to the core principles of public service broadcasting and to the highest standards of ethical journalism," the motion states.
"The revelations of undisclosed payments to Ryan Tubridy and the secretive arrangement with a third party threaten to undermine the trust which is the cornerstone of our relationship with the Irish people.
"Members are angry and dismayed at the failure of the Executive Board to address the grave concerns of staff and the decision by management to refuse all media interviews.
"RTÉ should be a model of best practice in regard to employment, corporate governance, industrial relations and public procurement.
"The concept of secret third-party contracts and special arrangements is incompatible with the concept of public service broadcasting".
The NUJ branch said it is calling for:
- Members of the RTÉ Executive Board to make themselves available to RTÉ programmes and other media to address the very many questions that need answering.
- Knowledge of who signed off on these secret payments and who knew about them.
- Those responsible to be held to account.
- The scope of the independent inquiry announced to be broadened to include wider issues relating to renumeration, including pensions and perks.
- An end to what members see as a culture of secrecy surrounding pay, pensions and perks at RTÉ.
- An independent examination of the organisation's use of third-party agents acting on behalf of a select group and the appropriateness of such relationships in a public broadcasting organisation.
Chair of the NUJ Dublin Broadcasting Branch, Emma O Kelly, said today's meeting was the largest held in recent memory at the broadcaster.
Members spoke of how devastated, ashamed, betrayed and angered they are, she said.
"Our members have worked extremely hard to earn and maintain the trust of the Irish public. That trust is something we value and respect hugely.
"They are devastated to see the hard-earned goodwill of the public undermined as a result of this scandal.
"We will continue to do our jobs to the best of our ability, and that includes holding RTÉ to the same standards that the public expects of any publicly funded body.
"We demand that our viewers and listeners are treated with respect, and we want that respect extended also to staff at RTÉ," Ms O Kelly added.
Addressing the members' meeting, NUJ Irish Secretary Séamus Dooley said the "events of the last 48 hours are deeply disturbing and strike at the heart of RTÉ".
He said they caused "upset, anger and resentment right across the organisation" and described the revelations as "grotesque, unbelievable, bizarre, and unprecedented in scale".
Mr Dooley also said that the "notion of third-party contracts and special arrangements does not sit easily with the concept of public service broadcasting".
"While no illegality may have occurred, I believe that the review being undertaken by Grant Thornton should only be the beginning of a corporate governance review which examines in forensic detail the third-party arrangements and whether they are appropriate for RTÉ," he added.
Mr Dooley added that there was a need to "ensure that those who seek to use these events to prevent proper funding of public service broadcasting are not successful in their mission".
The NUJ and SIPTU are the two largest unions in RTÉ and jointly make up the majority of the Trade Union Group.
SIPTU seeks 'swift action and accountability'
In a statement, SIPTU said "swift action and genuine accountability are essential".
Union Organiser Martin Mannion said: "This is immensely damaging and station management should not underestimate the degree of anger among our members.
"The only way that there can be any start to rebuilding the essential trust that we must have in the public service broadcaster is that due process is followed in a swift and transparent manner to resolve this crisis.
"This must result in those responsible for this situation being held fully accountable for their financial misgovernance, lack of truthfulness and damage perpetrated on one of our essential public institutions."
Earlier, Secretary of the RTÉ Trade Union Group Cearbhall Ó Síocháin said the main reaction among employees has been largely one of "fury" and "disappointment".
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, he said it "was a lot to take in" as he described the widespread shock, dismay, and disbelief among staff.
Mr Ó Síocháin said unions will be following up and seeking to meet the chair of the RTÉ Board to get clarity on it.
"The questions are really quite simple," he said.
"Why and how did this happen? Who initiated it? Who greenlit it? Why was it conducted in such a fashion that makes it look like it was a secret deal or that the money would be hidden?
"And why and how and why was this not spotted over six years, these discrepancies?"
He said the officers and officials of the TUG were invited to a briefing yesterday at short notice led by a member of the board and a member of RTÉ management.
"It took about half an hour to go through the details at which point the conclusion of the meeting coincided with the release of the statement by the RTÉ board," he said.
The reaction of staff yesterday came in quickly by email, text and phone, he added.
Mr Ó Síocháin explained how the TUG represented staff throughout Covid-19, "which was hard", and in January 2021 there were negotiations for €60 million cost-cutting measures.
"We were shown the books and explained to us how things were particularly difficult for RTÉ financially at the moment," he said.
"And it just defies belief really."
Read more: RTÉ staff gather to vent their fury over Tubridy payments
