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RTÉ's former chief financial officer Breda O'Keefe received nearly half-a-million euro in her redundancy package. Alamy Stock Photo

RTÉ paid its former Chief Financial Officer Breda O'Keeffe a €450,000 exit package

O’Keeffe previously told the Public Accounts Committee that she had availed of the scheme when she had left in 2020.

LAST UPDATE | 14 Feb 2024

RTÉ’S FORMER FINANCIAL controller Breda O’Keeffe got €450,000 in her exit package from the broadcaster in 2020.

This information was revealed to the Oireachtas Media Committee today by the broadcaster’s Director General Kevin Bakhurst.

The committee was hearing evidence from executives about the former CFO’s exit-payment and other lapses in financial governance, particularly in regards to the Toy Show musical production.

A previous report into ‘Golden Handshakes‘ at RTÉ found that hat the approval process for Breda O’Keeffe in the 2017 voluntary exit package (VEP) was “not complied with” by RTÉ.

The report found that RTÉ’s exit package for its former chief financial officer was “not considered and approved” by the broadcaster’s executive board, despite it being a requirement under the rules of its voluntary redundancy scheme. 

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Today it was discovered that O’Keeffe got paid nearly half a million euro when drawing down the exit package.

The Golden Handshakes report also found that the ex-CFO’s application was not sent to the RTÉ executive board for approval and she was the only person whose application was not considered by the group.

Last summer, O’Keeffe told the Public Accounts Committee that she had availed of the scheme when she had left in 2020. O’Keeffe said she had left the role voluntarily.

This was despite the scheme being typically only granted in circumstances where a role is suppressed or there has been a reorganisation within the company to reflect a role being made redundant.

The Golden Handshakes report reviewed 10 other exit payments and that totalled €223,010. O’Keeffe was paid over two times more the total of all ten other cases.

Sinn Féin TD Thomas Gould said he understands RTÉ’s former director of strategy Rory Coveney also received an exit package and asked the executives to tell him the value of the fee.

No figure was provided to Coveney’s alleged exit package. Coveney resigned in July 2023 at the beginning of the payment scandal last summer.

Appeal for Dee Forbes

Chair of the committee and Fianna Fáil TD Niamh Smyth towards the end of the hearing appealed to former RTÉ-boss Dee Forbes to make herself available to the committee for questioning.

Forbes was the Director General between April 2016 and last June. She stepped down after it was revealed RTÉ had misreported broadcaster Ryan Tubridy’s salary, since 2017, by over €345,000

Various Oireachtas committees have called on Forbes and other former RTÉ executives to come before them, to no avail. Forbes on all occasions has provided a sick-note to excuse her from appearing before TDs.

Smyth extended the invitation to appear before the committee to Coveney and former chair of the board Moya Doherty – who yesterday was identified as the person who confirmed that no formal approval was given to the Toy Show musical.

Smyth said: “Their input into our deliberations is really critical. And I would appeal to them to please not put the committee in the position of compelling them and ask them to make themselves available when they’re fit and ready and able to do that.”

No-shows

Earlier, the fact that O’Keeffe and eight other key individuals relating to RTÉ were unable to attend today’s committee hearing was labelled as “simply not good enough” by TD Brendan Griffin. 

Coveney, Doherty, and Forbes were also among those invited to attend today’s hearing and who did not show up.

Noting the no-shows, Brendan Griffin TD said the committee is “anxious to hear from those people at some stage in the future, as soon as possible”.

“We want to know, on behalf of the people, what really went on and these people are crucial to our enquiries,” Griffin told the committee.

“It’s not good enough that so many people were unable to attend. We all accept their health reasons, in some cases, but that everyone couldn’t attend or chose not to attend is simply not good enough.”

Former RTÉ commercial director Geraldine O’Leary, director of content Jim Jennings, former chief financial officer Richards Collins, board member Connor Murphy and board member Ian Kehoe were also invited. 

However, none of the above are in attendance today.

Apology

Speaking at the outset of the committee this afternoon, Chair of the board Siún Ní Raghallaigh said there has been “serious deficiencies in governance” at RTÉ and took the opportunity to apologise to the committee.

She assured the committee that there would not be any repeat of any failings, such as  the cost threshold blocking RTÉ projects from going ahead without board approval has been halved.

It came after a report into Toy Show The Musical – which recorded a €2.2 million loss after a single season in 2022 – found that no formal approval was given or provided by the board of RTÉ.

This was despite that approval being a requirement for projects with expenditure of above €2 million. It also found the board was not appropriately informed of the project throughout its development and the commercial risks were vastly underestimated.

Ní Raghallaigh has told today’s committee hearing that the report confirms a “significant lapse in oversight” of the musical. 

She said: “It is also clear to me that the Executive should have been interrogated by the Board on the project, on an ongoing basis and in a much more rigorous fashion.”

She added that in this regard, “the Board acknowledge that they should have asked more questions”, and said it is a “source of regret” for each member that they didn’t. 

“We take collective responsibility for the Board’s responsibility in this debacle,” she added.

Ní Raghallaigh told the committee that governance structures at RTÉ have been reformed and structured since the controversy.

Risk assessments are to be centralised in all decisions of the leadership team and a new formal approval process has been established for major expenditure projects. All submissions on expenditure approvals must include a business case and risk assessment.

The lower board authorisation limit will apply to sports rights, programme acquisitions, programme commissions and operating expenditure.

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    Mute Parmenides
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    Sep 18th 2013, 2:07 PM

    Just like oour very own unflappable Dobbo, the consummate professional. It’s only a mistake if you acknowledge it. Dobbo could take an arrow to the knee and still deliver the news in a a professional and concise manner.

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    Mute Larry K
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    Sep 18th 2013, 4:53 PM

    It also shows just how vital an iPad is for a news presenter

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    Mute Clyde Doyle
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    Sep 18th 2013, 10:06 PM

    Ha ha

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    Mute Michael Donnelly
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    Sep 18th 2013, 3:31 PM

    That’s a lost bet from a night in a pub. Or I’ll eat my hat!!

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    Mute Paul Radford
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    Sep 18th 2013, 5:26 PM

    You’re right, no other reason for a ream of paper to be anywhere near studio.

    Well spotted Watson, well spotted. Solved

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    Mute Oliver Walker
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    Sep 18th 2013, 4:55 PM

    That….looks absolutely ridiculous

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    Mute Veronica
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    Sep 18th 2013, 4:54 PM

    Fair pay to him, he kept his cool throughout!

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    Mute Seoirse M H
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    Sep 18th 2013, 3:32 PM

    The BBC News service is so blatantly biased and a spring of propaganda. It’s all in the words they choose and nice words are reserved for those who align with Western interests.

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    Mute Leigh Power
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    Sep 18th 2013, 3:50 PM

    As opposed to yourself who’s completely unbiased.

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    Mute Mick Rooney
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    Sep 18th 2013, 4:03 PM

    You’ve obviously never looked at the blatant Fox-led British Sky News for slanted opinion and bias presenting in their daily news. For all the starch and stuff upper lip of the BBC, you at least get basic news reported less the editorial and reality-show hyperbole of SKY.

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    Mute Seoirse M H
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    Sep 18th 2013, 4:17 PM

    Re Mick.

    Hi Mick. Wouldn’t look at SkyNews for news unless I needed some encouragement. The BBC nature programs et al are good but the news service is unbelievably produced according to an agenda. Just look at any articles from the BBC on Pinochet. Absolutely shocking the way they choose words in their description of him and slant on him.

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    Mute Paul Radford
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    Sep 18th 2013, 5:28 PM

    So what do you think of Tv3. Interesting to hear your reply.

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    Mute Mick Rooney
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    Sep 18th 2013, 5:38 PM

    BBC docu stuff is generally, outstanding, though I take your point on the Pinochet stuff.

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    Mute Mick Rooney
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    Sep 18th 2013, 5:43 PM

    Eh, TV3!? Do they call what they do in soundbites news? I used to watch Vincenzo, but, frankly, I couldn’t care less what Georgia, Amy or Glenda do next as an excuse for news! TV3 news reminds me of John Craven’s newsrooms for kids, or the mentally challenged!

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    Mute Wham Wham
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    Sep 18th 2013, 2:32 PM

    I’ve done that afew times in school! You’d be mortified but with all those kids staring at you it’s bound to happen!

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    Mute Trevor Beacom
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    Sep 18th 2013, 6:25 PM

    A decent newsreader mccoy who was pushed out of sky for clashing with the maggie Thatcher of media

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    Mute Cathal Egan
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    Sep 18th 2013, 8:44 PM

    Maybe he got scammed by the people who show you what you’re buying then give you the case filled with paper and leave before you notice. He just hasn’t noticed yet.

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