RTÉ’s Chief Financial Officer Richard Collins has denied he tried to mislead the Oireachtas Media Committee about the broadcaster’s number of barter accounts.
During a hearing last week, the CFO said “there is only one barter account” while being questioned about RTÉ’s expenditure of public funds.
However, it’s since been revealed that RTÉ has operated not one but three barter accounts.
The revelations have sparked further concern, amid an independent examination of RTÉ’s expenditure of public funds and governance.
At Wednesday’s sitting on the Oireachtas Media Committee, Mr Collins said that while RTÉ used three companies to operate barter accounts, they were consolidated for accounting purposes.
“There was one barter account in terms of how it was looked at financially, but three companies feeding into it,” he clarified.
Last week, Mr Collins said he believes “over €1 million” has gone through the broadcaster’s barter account over the past decade.
The broadcaster used the barter account system for €1.6million in client entertainment and corporate hospitality over the last decade – nearly €400,000 more than previously disclosed.
Just weeks ago, the broadcaster was plunged into chaos when it was revealed that Ryan Tubridy’s earnings were publicly understated by €345,000 over the last six years.
The issue was identified during a routine audit of RTÉ’s 2022 accounts, prompting an independent review of the matter.
Last month, The RTÉ Board issued an apology over the error in Ryan’s reported salary, and later the presenter apologised for not questioning the broadcaster over his published earnings.
The scandal resulted in the suspension of RTÉ’s Director General Dee Forbes, who later resigned from her role.
During the initial hearing, it emerged that RTÉ underwrote a commercial sponsorship of Ryan by Renault.
RTÉ labelled invoices of €75,000 payments as “consultancy fees”, and the now-infamous barter account was used to pay them.
Minister Catherine Martin has since announced an independent examination of RTÉ, and the appointment of two Expert Advisory Committees, composed of experts in their field, to oversee the two different strands of this examination.
