Louth TD hits out at RTÉ failure to inform government of bankruptcy fears

Louth TD and Sinn Féin Media spokesperson, Joanna Byrne TD, expressed concern over a response to a parliamentary question to Minister Patrick O’Donovan which makes clear that RTÉ did not brief the Minister or Department for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media over fears compensating workers for alleged 'bogus' self-employment would bankrupt the broadcaster.

Deputy Byrne said:

“It’s been a year since RTÉ Director General Kevin Bakhurst told a meeting of staff that the broadcaster would ‘be bankrupt overnight’ if it compensated workers for bogus self-employment.

“Today we learn that the Department to which RTÉ is accountable only learned of these comments with the rest of us, last month through press reports.

“If RTÉ fears its own bankruptcy for righting the wrongs of how it treated its workers, why was the true scale of the problem being hidden not only from the public but from the Minister responsible?

“We are still relying on the figure of €21.3m provided by RTÉ to an Oireachtas Committee last year for costs arising from SCOPE investigations – a substantial enough figure – but the use of the term ‘bankruptcy’ suggests a far greater cost which has not been admitted publicly. The public deserves to know how many more workers were incorrectly classified, and how much that will cost.

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“We know that the workers affected are being given the run-around. Incredibly, Revenue appears to be refusing to seek unpaid tax from RTÉ without RTÉ’s permission, and the Department of Social Protection appears not to be getting involved.

“This begs the question, do workers truly have rights in this State, and whose job is it to defend them?

“We also need an answer as to why the Department seems to be asleep at the wheel when it comes to oversight of state agencies for which it is responsible. Where were they when €7m was being wasted by the Arts Council? Where were they when RTÉ was telling staff that respecting workers’ rights could make it bankrupt?”