Hardcopy of exchange transactions for the period 2017-2019 lost during an office move.Figures show that between 2017 and 2022, more than €400,000 was spent on customer entertainment, €230,760 on talent agency payments and flights and hotels cost €222,283.The receipts show that more than €25,000 was spent on 'customer entertainment' during a Jenny Greene concert at the 3Arena
Mazers' report found there was not “adequate use” of London's exclusive Soho House, which cost €5,375 in membership fees
Media Minister Catherine Martin is in favor of scrapping the license fee
The government decision on the future funding model for RTÉ will be made before the summer recess
The Mazars report in RTÉ accounts is one of three major damning reports published by the government to the national broadcaster today.
The Mazars report flagged a number of barter purchase transactions where it found “there is no valid basis for these transactions having been paid for through the barter account.”
This is because the transactions were not appropriate for the exchange account and for the purposes for which it was used.
The transactions deemed ineligible for the swap account include the €150,000 payment to Tubridy – who Mazars calls payments to “talent” – and €44,000 in payments to Renault.
Two payments of €75,000, totaling €150,000, were described as “consultancy fees” and were reported as “promotional costs” in the RTÉ accounts.
More mysterious payments from RTE 'exchange account' discovered
However, this was “not consistent” with the basis for the payments, the report said.
Some of the Renault payments, which totaled €44,000, were classified as 'audience research', which was also 'inconsistent' with the basis for the payments.
Mazars also identified a payment for a canceled board meeting of €2,510 and a payment of €8,054 relating to expenditure on 'office purchases'.
A total of €5,375 was spent on membership of Soho House, an exclusive club in London, for four years.
Mazars said it saw no evidence to show there was “adequate use” of the club over the four years, including closures due to the pandemic.
The overview shows how the exchange account was used for hundreds of thousands of euros in hospitality for customers, including concerts, restaurants and gifts.
She also noted that several exchange purchases worth €654,000 had been incorrectly omitted from the reports to the minister.
The study also states that a hard copy of exchange transactions for the period 2017-2019 was lost during an office move.
Figures from the Mazers report show that between 2017 and 2022, more than €400,000 was spent on customer entertainment, €230,760 in talent agency payments and flights and hotels cost €222,283.
Receipts on the account also show that more than €25,000 was spent on 'customer entertainment' at a Jenny Greene concert at the 3Arena. Ms Greene is a presenter at the broadcaster.
The Mazars report concludes that the exchange account was used because no “alternative budget” was available.
Media Minister Catherine Martin said she still supports scrapping the controversial €160 license fee.
She said the Government will sign off plans to review the TV license before the Dáil recess on July 11.
However, the coalition will be under pressure to pass the relevant laws to bring the new system into effect before the next general election.
Reforming the TV license and providing an additional taxpayer contribution to public media is seen by the coalition as the most likely outcome.
Minister Martin said this is not a recommendation she has received from a group tasked with investigating the review of TV licensing.
Minister Martin said any future financing model must be 'sustainable'.
She said there are “different opinions at the table” on TV licensing discussions.
She said the renewed TV license should be “free from political influence.”
She was speaking as the government today released three long-awaited reports on the broadcaster's culture, governance and reporting, which included 116 recommendations. RTÉ now has six weeks to get back to the government with an implementation plan.
Media Minister Catherine Martin said her department will withhold a second round of funding from RTÉ pending the implementation of recommendations in a series of reports.
She also said she understands the salary cap for RTÉ employees will remain at €250,000.
She added that following the implementation of the recommendations, she plans to release the first tranche of €40 million in additional Treasury funding allocated to RTÉ this year.
“The distribution of the final tranche later this year will be subject to a satisfactory assessment of updates from RTÉ on my department's implementation of the plan and further approval from the Minister of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform,” she said .
RTÉ told Mazars that the money in the exchange account was under the control of the Commercial Director and that they had “their discretion as to how these balances could be used”.
An investigation into RTÉ's culture and governance also found that RTÉ management did not trust the broadcaster's board because sensitive information had been repeatedly leaked.
The review shows that board members felt that management believed they were accountable to the board. The report goes through a series of information leaks over the past few years, up until the end of last year
“A lack of trust between the board and the former executive board. Some board members told us they did not believe executives felt they should be accountable to the board.
“In contrast, some executives we spoke to believed, perhaps wrongly, that the board was a possible source of previous leaks of confidential information,” the report says.
The perceived threat of leaks may have contributed to the lack of transparency in RTÉ executives' dealings with the board. The report says research shows “this lack of transparency is a more widespread problem, with less than 20% of respondents believing that RTÉ management had been honest and open about the decisions made”.
Media Minister Catherine Martin this afternoon published reports on governance and accounting practices with national broadcaster RTÉ.
The long-awaited reports were published alongside a separate investigation into the organisation's use of off-balance sheet accounts, commissioned by RTÉ itself.
RTÉ was plunged into crisis in June last year after it admitted under-declaring fees for its star presenter and former top earner Ryan Tubridy.
A series of probing Dáil committee hearings also highlighted other concerns about the culture, governance and financial management at RTÉ and there have been several high-profile resignations of the channel's board and director.
In a statement, RTÉ Director General Kevin Bakhurst said: “We welcome the publication of the Minister's three reports and accept in principle the recommendations contained in both Expert Advisory Committees.
“We have worked closely with both committees and with Mazars since last year to provide all available information and complete the reports.
“We understand the need to restore confidence in RTÉ following a series of revelations last year and I hope it is clear that we are taking the issues that have emerged very seriously.
“The events of last year are a source of deep frustration and disappointment for all of us at RTÉ and those associated with this organisation.
“We have already implemented major reform of RTÉ and addressed many of the recommendations in the reports, and we are committed to continuing this reform process, now with the benefit of the recommendations set out in today's reports.
“We will respond formally and fully once we have taken time to fully consider the reports.”
The Media department will also draw up its own implementation plan within six weeks and both will be signed off by the cabinet.
Plans to review the TV license are expected to be signed off by senior ministers shortly afterwards, ahead of TDs for the summer recess.
Hospitality, travel and subsistence costs within RTÉ reported to Media Ministers between 2017 and 2022 will also be reviewed by RTÉ's chief executive.
Laws will also be changed to make the state spending watchdog, the Comptroller and Auditor General, RTÉ's auditor.
RTÉ will now also be accountable to the Dáil public spending watchdog, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
Further legislation will also strengthen the authority of the RTÉ board and make directors general accountable to the board.
Minister Martin said the more than 100 recommendations “set out a path forward” for the public broadcaster.
“These are in-depth investigations that were necessary because of the governance and other failings we have seen in the past – from organizational to cultural to financial failures. So with these recommendations we now see the blueprint for the future,” she told RTÉ's Six One News.
Minister Martin added that it was “essential” that RTÉ “accepted these principles”.