Tánaiste Micheál Martin has told the Dáil that "RTÉ's capacity is very significantly reduced," adding that the national broadcaster's coverage of global events is "not what it should be".
He was responding to the leader of the Labour Party, whose assessment of the "centrality of public service broadcasting" he agreed with.
Mr Martin said that in light of his role as Minister for Foreign Affairs, he thinks that "in terms of the complexity and analysis required of what's going on globally in the world today, it's not what it should be, in my view, in terms of public service broadcasting".
Ivana Bacik criticised "indefensible" actions at RTÉ - including an exit package for former CFO Breda O'Keeffe - which have left people "shocked".
Those who keep the "lights on and cameras rolling" are often "trapped on bogus self-employment contracts," and forced to undertake a legal fight for their rights, she said.
Meanwhile, public money is still being spent "sustaining the bad culture of old", meaning a new leaf cannot be turned over.
Workers' rights are not getting enough scrutiny, Ms Bacik added.
Mr Martin agreed that the deputy's concerns on bogus self-employment are "valid", adding that an investigation is under way.
This raises the issue of "future workforce composition and rights," he said.
He also agreed with the Labour leader's assessment of the value of public service broadcasting, and the damage done to morale at the broadcaster by the latest revelations.
O'Keeffe package was 'golden handshake' - Doherty
Sinn Féin's Spokesperson on Finance Pearse Doherty said the payment given to Ms O'Keeffe was "a golden handshake ... cooked up behind closed doors".
Speaking in the Dáil, Mr Doherty also said that Mr Coveney, who he described as the driving force behind the Toy Show The Musical fiasco, also got a "secret golden handshake at the taxpayers' expense".
"In any other workplace if you walk off the job, if you quit, you only get what what you're entitled to ... but if you're an RTÉ executive you can walk off the job and receive €450,000 of taxpayers' money. It's a joke."
Mr Doherty asked: "We've seen no accountability in the last eight months ... when will there be accountability because that's what people demand?"
Kevin Bakhurst also confirms former RTÉ Chief Financial Officer Breda O'Keeffe was paid €450,000 when she left the organisation | Follow updates: https://t.co/ID7wzC1Nnd pic.twitter.com/DxI2CJ2NSf
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) February 14, 2024
Responding, the Tánaiste said it is unacceptable what has happened and there should be no secrecy around any packages for RTÉ executives.
He said one payment did not adhere to procedures and the correct terms should now be applied.
There has to be full transparency, he said, and suggested another forum could be found to hear from those RTÉ figures who have not appeared before Oireachtas committees.
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Earlier, a union official said morale among staff at RTÉ, which was already miserable, was made even more so following the latest revelations about exit packages for senior executives at the broadcaster.
Chair of the RTÉ sub-committee of the NUJ Trevor Keegan said staff see very little change, and what change is happening is doing so at a "snail-like pace".
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr Keegan said the amount paid to Ms O'Keeffe was shocking to staff, many of whom are working in "shoddy conditions", but said "it's an amount that we know she had no wrongdoing in and she was exonerated by the Grant Thornton report."
Mr Keegan said while there has been some accountability and some people "had fallen on their sword", they got an exit package to do so.
He pointed out that the newsroom had a rodent infestation, parts of the roof falling on staff, as well as bogus self-employed people who have missed out on pensions and holiday entitlements.
He said the issue of bogus employment was raised at the committee, where staff, including himself, have missed out on pensions and other entitlement.
"The €450,000 and whatever other exit package Rory Coveney might have gotten could have gone some way to alleviated the stress and strain on those colleagues," he said.
