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RTÉ provides PAC with original note taken during meeting on Tubridy contract

The documents were provided to the committee this evening
The documents were provided to the committee this evening

RTÉ has provided the Dáil's Public Accounts Committee with the original note taken during a meeting in relation to Ryan Tubridy's contract.

The station has also provided a summary of the document, as requested by the PAC.

It ends a logjam between both parties, after RTÉ had originally refused to provide the original document, due to client-solicitor confidentiality concerns.

Yesterday, the PAC called on RTÉ to provide the original note, provided members did not discuss it publicly.

The summary of the note, prepared by the law firm Arthur Cox, has also been provided and this can be discussed by the PAC in public session.

The documents were provided to the committee this evening.

A summary of the note, compiled by the law firm Arthur Cox and seen by RTÉ News, outlines parts of the meeting around the tripartite agreement involving a commercial sponsor.

The former Director General Dee Forbes, NK Management (Ryan Tubridy's representative) and an RTE legal representative attended the meeting.

It indicates efforts on the part of NK Management to seek a written guarantee of the tripartite agreement.

In one section of the summary note it states, "NK management - we thought you'd underwrite - cannot in formal sense as that would compromise what we are trying to achieve".

It continues, "The former Director General will personally ensure that a portion of the sponsorship will always be apportioned to the individual", it states.

In another section of the summary, it reads "The former Director General appears to indicate that we all want this to work; we've reputations to uphold."

Further down the note reads, "NK Management the queried the effect of another Director General being appointed."

It continues, "The former Director General then advised that they thought they could do it, they can't - no way around this. The guarantee [essentially] says RTÉ will pay the talent, "

Separately, the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee Brian Stanely has said that he is satisfied that RTÉ has now responded to its request. However, he criticised the station for the length of time it took to provide the documents.

Meanwhile, a document setting out its plans for reform and for the management of its finances has been delivered to Minister for Media Catherine Martin and will be published next week.

The document, entitled A New Direction for RTÉ, was given to Minister Martin at a meeting last night with RTÉ Director General Kevin Bakhurst and RTÉ Board chair Siún Ní Raghallaigh.

In an email to staff this afternoon, Mr Bakhurst said the document would be published for staff on Tuesday afternoon, followed by a "town hall" meeting with members of staff and the interim leadership team.

Meanwhile, RTÉ announced this afternoon that Gavin Deans is to take up the role of Commercial Director in February 2024. He succeeds Geraldine O'Leary, who took early retirement in July.

Speaking to RTÉ News in Cork this morning, Minister for Finance Michael McGrath said he believes a recommendation to the Government by Minister Martin on interim funding for RTÉ is "imminent".

"A recommendation to Government, I believe, is imminent in that regard, and certainly expected within the next very short number of weeks," Minister McGrath said.

He said a decision on longer-term funding for RTÉ would take more time and would be based on an assessment by Minister Martin's department of the RTÉ document.

Mr McGrath said Ms Martin and Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Paschal Donohoe had been working closely together on the question of interim funding for RTÉ.

"Minister Catherine Martin has now received the plan and will consider that and bring that to Government in due course.

"We do believe it's important that the Director General be given an opportunity to fully brief all of the staff members of RTÉ," Mr McGrath said.

"The imminent decision that Government needs to make is in relation to interim funding and I do expect Minister Martin will bring a proposal to Government very shortly in the coming weeks in relation to that.

"Then, the question of further future funding is contingent on the assessment of the strategic vision and that, of course, is now under way within Minister Martin's department."

Asked how soon a decision on interim funding could be expected, Minister McGrath said: "Minister Martin and Minister Donohoe have been working very closely together in relation to the question of interim funding and a recommendation for Government, I believe, is imminent in that regard, and certainly expected within the next very short number of weeks.

"The wider question of more medium to long-term funding is dependent on the Government's assessment of the Strategic Vision plan and the implementation of the various reforms, and so that assessment, I believe, will take somewhat longer."

Minister McGrath was speaking at the opening of a second cardiac catheterisation laboratory at the Mater Private Hospital in Cork.

The new lab represents an investment of almost €5m and it means the Mater Private in Cork is the first private hospital in the region with two 'cath' labs.

Meanwhile, Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Paschal Donohoe said he had not yet seen a copy of the RTÉ document.

He said the Government will be considering the matter soon and he said he understood that Mr Bakhurst would need to engage with his own organisation in relation to it.

Asked about whether RTÉ should hand over documents to the Public Accounts Committee about contract negotiations that the broadcaster says are subject to solicitor-client confidentiality, the minister said the PAC was independent of his own department and that RTÉ was independent of the Government.

He said each of them had legal resources available to them and he hoped there would still be a way to find a resolution to this issue.

Mr Donohoe added: "We need public service broadcasting I've just made the point regarding how important our media is. And a big part of that is the continued role of RTÉ."

He said what would be considered by the Government was the reform agenda. He said the Department of Culture and Media was undertaking that and assessing the governance and culture within RTÉ.

Additional reporting: Paschal Sheehy