RTÉ admits paying Tubridy €345,000 more than declared

machiavellianme · 29-06-2023 7:13pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120783912#Comment_120783912

Given the values involved, how on earth were they not compelled to use OJEU or similar? Surely someone would have undercut NK?

thomas 123 · 29-06-2023 7:15pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120783980#Comment_120783980

Undercut him for what lol? grubby little deal - he did in his hoop do consultancy for them - just a way to move the money around.

thomas 123 · 29-06-2023 7:18pm

And imagine every 1 euro they spent on this feckin account 51c of it was added as a fee?

did we get any insight as to why these fees were so high?

Tip of the iceberg for sure.

Well done to Brian stanly and the rest of the TDs today.

29-06-2023 7:18pm

Heard end of a Radio 1 program “Ronan Coveney produced” Keep it in the family.

For Forks Sake · 29-06-2023 7:22pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120783088#Comment_120783088

Siun Ni Raghalligh is from Donegal.

Dee Forbes - langerland

Anne O'Leary - langerland

Geraldine O'Leary - langerland

Deirdre McCarthy - langerland

Rory Coveney - langerland

I'm detecting a trend

evolvingtipperary101 · 29-06-2023 7:23pm

Noel Kelly is the epitome of Celtic tiger scum. Ripped off the country at will. Snake. His business must be investigated- top to bottom.

bucketybuck · 29-06-2023 7:25pm

I'm surprised that the CFO didn't take what would have been the obvious stance in all of this.

"I joined in 2020, it was a challenging period for a lot of reasons and there were a lot of legacy fires to fight, so I concentrated on implementing better standards and procedures at the ground level and focusing on those things I could change immediately. With so much to be done I didn't second guess those above me, if the boss had already signed off on a payment I did not devote time to reviewing her decisions, I just moved on to other issues. In hindsight this trust was misplaced and I should have been looking up as well as looking down."

Yes it throws Forbes under the bus but that has happened anyway, and it would have garnered if not sympathy, at least some understanding. I have seen plenty of good staff get overruled by the boss, we all have at some point.

But I suppose a statement like the above requires some humility, and from what I watched the CFO has precious little of that.

backwards_man · 29-06-2023 7:27pm

What I dont get about the barter account is that there was actual money paid out from it. Whether it is an actual bank account with money in it, or it is a virtual account for the books only, (and its not clear which we are talking about here), actual money needed to be paid for the expenses incurred out of it eg the 80K for the Japan trip, RTs 230K which went to a UK account etc......

Now the CFO has said it was operated by the commercial team and was outside the remit of finance. But finance holds the whole budget. It gets money from the government to run RTEs operations, and the advertising revenue so at some point, the commercial department was handed a wadge of actual money every year to run their department. FInance knows the salaries of everyone in the department and the running costs so there was X amount left over which had to be the money used for the barter account. It makes no sense that they say they did not know. They might not know the details of what it was spent on or that it was called a "barter account", but they know that the commercial department is given RunningCosts+X every year and they are not asking what X is used for. I do not understand how money can flow in and out of an account without someone from finance knowing about it - where else other than finance did commercial get the money for the barter account?

So when the CFO is asked did you know about the barter account he can say No. But if he is asked did you know that every year Commercial was given a hundreds of thousands of a budget that was surplus to their running costs, maybe the answer to that question would be Yes.

Stevie2001 · 29-06-2023 7:29pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120783956#Comment_120783956

Thanks for that summary!

Incredible, really

Corruption is paid by the poor it seems.

BattleCorp · 29-06-2023 7:29pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120783972#Comment_120783972

Your book might be different from the law. Corporate entertainment isn't against the law.

I'm not saying what RTE did was right, but it mightn't be against the law.

irishgeo · 29-06-2023 7:29pm

The CFO said around 1million or 1.25million had been through the barter account in 10 years I think.

I'm curious if that is including the 35% fees.

Because 350,000 is a lot of taxpayers money to throw away fees alone never mind the actual wastage in the account itself m

Stevie2001 · 29-06-2023 7:29pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120783763#Comment_120783763

Haha well put :)

Stevie2001 · 29-06-2023 7:30pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120783809#Comment_120783809

Reading that now, champions league tickets, ffs

ButtersSuki · 29-06-2023 7:30pm

How Richard Collins got his job as CFO in an organisation as big as RTÉ funded largely by public money needs an investigation in itself. It’s simply incredible that his first CFO position in his career is in a job this big with so much responsibility for public money - you would think the successful candidate would have prior experience of this level of seniority and in a CFO role?

Are we seriously supposed to believe that no other existing CFO applied??? If he was the best candidate I can’t imagine how bad the others were.

In the course of my career I’ve never seen a CFO come across as badly and be less impressive than Collins was today. He was an absolute disaster. I doubt he even realizes or as many have pointed out has the humility to realize how badly he came across today.

skimpydoo · 29-06-2023 7:35pm

Earlier this year Bono was doing a tour around the world promoting his latest book. Bono was telling stories and singing some songs and the Irish leg of the tour was in the Olympia. A friend of mine tried to get tickets for the Irish leg and could not. It seems a lot of tickets went to RTE staff and board members.

My friend did manage to catch Bono on his tour. He saw him in New York and Paris. But it's strange that he could not see Bono in Dublin.

evolvingtipperary101 · 29-06-2023 7:35pm

Who owns the barter agency? Who is pocketing the 35% or is it more? NK has owned companies in the UK. A solutions company, I think? Has an NK business in the UK ever been hired by RTE? Has an NK business in the UK had any dealings with RTE?

Gas NK ever had any dealings with discovery?

ZookeeperDub · 29-06-2023 7:35pm

Interesting in the local area they are running a poll on who will renew TV license

11% say they don't pay already

But the big number is 63% who have paid before say they won't pay moving forward.

FAS was a government entity so nobody could stop paying, in reality RTE is as well but mass non payment of tv license will cripple the place.

Northernlily · 29-06-2023 7:37pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120784063#Comment_120784063

It increasingly looks like he was purposely chosen as a soft touch. They didn't want someone in who would rock the boat and start asking hard questions.

He comes across as a bit of a useful idiot type. Probably just happy to go along with it and say he is CFO at RTE when there is alarm bells going off all over the place.

Irishdancer · 29-06-2023 7:37pm

The guards role is to investigate.

I cannot confirm if fraud has occurred (I'm presuming you can't either as neither of us has access to RTE accounts etc.

There are enough questions unanswered here to justify Garda involvement

Frank Grimes · 29-06-2023 7:41pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120784063#Comment_120784063

Presumably he was the only applicant who could count.

jojofizzio · 29-06-2023 7:51pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120784118#Comment_120784118

Or couldn’t….and that’s why he got the gig..

skimpydoo · 29-06-2023 7:52pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120784118#Comment_120784118

Count to look away.

ButtersSuki · 29-06-2023 7:52pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120784090#Comment_120784090

I’ve always paid it.

No more.

skimpydoo · 29-06-2023 7:54pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120784149#Comment_120784149

Well at long last you are being vindicated. I know more stories like yours and mine will come out.

NIMAN · 29-06-2023 7:55pm

I wonder how many cleaners or secretaries at rte got tickets to U2, to the Japan World Cup , to the CL final or the K Club?

If I was a betting man......

Field east · 29-06-2023 7:58pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120782955#Comment_120782955

At long last and should request all board and executive committee minutes while he is at it. The report as to the outcome of the consultancy servicecarried out by NK during Covid should also be requested . This was apparently about advising RTE how to improve some aspect of its management.