RTÉ has said it has increased provision in its balance sheet to provide for a number of annual payments – some dating back decades – previously listed by the broadcaster as liabilities.
One of these relates to payments to the widow of a former director general of the organisation. It did not disclose how much the payments would be.
RTÉ also said on Tuesday that it was seeking to establish ownership of a piece of art which has been in its possession for many years. It is understood RTÉ believes the art piece may have been loaned to it decades ago.
Details of the historic payments made by RTÉ were set out in a report given to Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport Patrick O’Donovan.
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The Irish Independent on Tuesday reported that the document provided to Mr O’Donovan set out details of “eight irregular payments, ranging between €10,000 and €30,000, mainly related to pensions”.
In a statement, RTÉ said “the annual payments referred to are for the most part years or decades old and were historically recorded on RTÉ’s balance sheet”.
The broadcaster said all the payments “were previously provided for by RTÉ in the balance sheet as liabilities and details were brought to the attention of the Department (of Culture, Communications and Sport).
“Four of the eight payments referred to were agreed decades ago and one of these relates to agreed payments to the widow of a former director general of RTÉ following his death,” according to the statement.
“Following a review, RTÉ has now increased the balance sheet provision for these payments to ensure they are fully provided for.
“The remaining four payments relate to former RTÉ staff members who took early retirement within the terms of the 2017 or 2021 voluntary exit programmes and are in receipt of income replacement payments until the age of 65 as part of these programmes.”
RTÉ did not provide details in relation to all of the historic payments.
Mr O’Donovan is expected to bring to the Cabinet in a number of weeks the new RTÉ report on the payments and the organisation’s annual report for 2024.
The Irish Times reported last week that the Minister had received the RTÉ annual report last June.
In response to queries last week, a spokeswoman for the Department of Communications said the statutory review of the report has now been completed.
“In line with RTÉ’s designation as a NEWERA body under the National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Act 2014, the RTÉ Annual Report is subject to review by NEWERA before publication.
“The NEWERA review has now been completed and the minister intends to bring the 2024 annual report to Cabinet at the earliest opportunity, following which it will be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas and subsequently published by RTÉ,” the spokeswoman said.
