Minister for Media Catherine Martin has announced an external review of governance and culture at RTÉ.
It comes after the minister met Chair of the RTÉ Board Siún Ní Raghallaigh to discuss issues around corporate governance at the national broadcaster.
"While as minister I cannot get involved in the day-to-day operation of RTÉ, I do need assurance that the governance and culture is fit for purpose," the minister said.
"Public trust in RTÉ must be rebuilt. Therefore, a Government decision on the future funding model for public service broadcasting has been paused until such time as this review is complete and the findings considered.
"My officials will develop Terms of Reference in this regard over the coming week, and I will expect the full co-operation of the RTÉ Board and senior executives in engaging with this review and in engaging with Oireachtas committees in the coming period," Ms Martin added.
The minister said she does not know why RTÉ's Director General Dee Forbes has been suspended, only that this is part of a disciplinary process.
Minister Martin said "this is nearly like an existential crisis for RTÉ and I believe in the value of public service broadcasting" adding: "I think we need to have that root and branch review, we need to look at the governance structure, we need to look at the oversight of financial transactions, we need to look at the culture there, at the staff there, the relationship with staff."
She said "we need to examine thoroughly the commercial side of things, how is that managed in terms of presenters' earnings and relations with staff".
The minister said everyone who is invited to engage with the Oireachtas committees this week on the issues at RTÉ should do so, including the currently suspended Director General.
Following the meeting the RTÉ board issued a statement in which it said it "will work closely with the forthcoming external review to ensure that these issues are rigorously examined, so that full confidence in Ireland's independent, public service broadcaster can be rebuilt".
Board chairperson, Siún Ní Raghallaigh said: "Separately, we have already put a number of immediate steps in place to ensure that there is no recurrence of these matters, and we will also work to complete the second Grant Thornton report as quickly as possible."
"On behalf of the Board of RTÉ, I want to apologise again to the public for this breach of trust, and also to the staff of RTÉ who work so hard on a daily basis to serve the public," she said.
Irish Secretary of the National Union of Journalists, Seamus Dooley said the NUJ looked forward to "receiving the terms of reference and to the full participation of unions and staff in the review process".
He said the union had "long demanded a more open, transparent, and inclusive style of management at RTÉ".
RTÉ's trade union group, the TUG also welcomed the external review, saying it would engage "fully in the review in the interest of our members".
Read more:
RTÉ payments drama could take long time to play out
RTÉ admits paying Tubridy €345,000 more than declared
Suspended Director General says she 'prioritised' best interests of RTÉ
Ryan Tubridy apologises for failing to ask questions about published earnings
The meeting follows a failure by the organisation to disclose the full salary of presenter Ryan Tubridy between 2017 and 2022.
Mr Tubridy was paid €345,000 above his annual published salary over a period of several years.
Failure of corporate governance at RTÉ
In a statement today, the Interim Deputy Director General of RTÉ Adrian Lynch apologised to all staff "for the serious breach of trust that has occurred, and for this failure of corporate governance at RTÉ".
Mr Lynch, who has been appointed to the post until the arrival of the incoming Director General Kevin Bakhurst on 10 July, said in his message: "I share and understand your shock and anger."
The statement continued: "I will continue to talk and engage with you."
Mr Lynch said the Board has put steps in place to ensure there is no recurrence of these matters.
They include an internal review on contracts for the top 10 most highly paid on-air presenters, which is now complete, and an external, independent review on contracts for the top 10 most highly paid on-air presenters, which is soon to commence by Grant Thornton.
RTÉ is also republishing the payments to Ryan Tubridy in order to correct the record, he said.
Mr Lynch said that all new contracts will be paused until the Remuneration Committee of the Board has full oversight and approval of the terms of contracts relating to the top 10 most highly paid on-air presenters in value and any material variations or amendments to those contracts.
Also, the Barter Account will be brought within the control of the Finance function and specific controls will be put in place for that account, he said.
Mr Lynch added that the Executive Board is committed to working with the Chair and the RTÉ Board "to do whatever we can to rebuild trust and ensure such a serious breach of transparency never again occurs".
'Remedial steps may be required', says Taoiseach
In a statement yesterday evening, Mr Varadkar called for all matters to be examined, adding that possible "remedial steps" may be required to restore "trust and confidence" in the broadcaster.
Mr Varadkar said: "The Government considers it essential that we have the highest standards of governance, accountability and transparency from RTÉ and will consider what further action may be required.
"All of the matters involved will have to be examined and, perhaps, remedial steps taken to restore trust and confidence.
"It will be equally important for the Board to demonstrate that it is putting in place appropriate structures and processes to prevent a recurrence."
We need your consent to load this Datawrapper contentWe use Datawrapper to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage PreferencesYesterday, the RTÉ Board confirmed that RTÉ Director General Dee Forbes was suspended from her employment on Wednesday.
In a statement, Ms Forbes said that she had always prioritised what she believed were the best interests of RTÉ "in order to best serve the public".
She said she is proud of her contribution to RTÉ during her time as Director General, adding that she has been "fully engaged" with the RTÉ Board since the issue of Ryan Tubridy's unpublished earnings emerged.
'Large number of outstanding questions' - Shortall
Minister of State and Fine Gael TD for Kildare South Martin Heydon said there is a need to "get to the bottom" of the controversy around the payments.
Speaking on RTÉ's Saturday with Colm Ó Mongáin, he said restoring trust requires being "open and transparent" and RTÉ putting forward people who can answer questions.
Social Democrats TD for Dublin North-West Róisín Shortall said the primary responsibility is to the public with " accountability for the spending of a very large amount of public money".
Speaking on the same programme, she said, in her view, RTÉ has had a high level of confidence among the public but "unfortunately this incident has done very, very serious damage to that."
She said there are a "large number of outstanding questions" that need to be answered by management about these undisclosed payments, including who initiated it, who signed off on it, who knew about it and how the audit did not pick up on it until now.
She described it as an extraordinary situation and said it highlighted the need for answers to be given quickly because of the "reputational damage" that has been done, and in order to maintain and protect public sector broadcasting.
Sinn Féin TD for Dublin Mid-West Eoin Ó Broin said there is a need to know what RTÉ is going to do to ensure something like this never happens again.
He said there is a real opportunity for RTÉ to come out "quickly and comprehensively" to give an explanation.
"I think what members of the Oireachtas, the Public Accounts Committee, and the line committee for the minister will want to hear is both an explanation for how we got here and I think equally importantly is a roadmap that RTÉ will set out to credibly demonstrate that they are going to fix this in terms of governance structures, in terms of reporting, and in terms of internal procedures."
He said if that is done "correctly and speedily" it will "go some way to restoring the trust" with Oireachtas members and RTÉ staff.
He added that there is enormous anger and a feeling of being let down among employees at the broadcaster.
He said RTÉ management have an "awful lot of work to do", including sending the right people to the Oireachtas committee to deal with these matters in a very public, open and transparent manner.
