RTÉ’s Chief Financial Officer Richard Collins said he believes “over €1 million” has gone through the barter account over the past decade.
Colm Burke TD slammed the barter account as nothing other than a “slush fund”.
According to the Cambridge Dictionary a slush fund is “an amount of money that is kept for dishonest or illegal activities in politics or business”.
The RTÉ Board and executives appeared in front of an Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee on Thursday, to discuss the ongoing payments scandal.
When questioned as to how much money has gone through the barter account, CFO Richard Collins said he believes the sum to be over €1 million over the past ten years.
The CFO admitted that he wasn’t there to “justify” the barter account, as he “wasn’t happy” with its existence when he first came across it.
The question was raised as part of an ongoing investigation after it was revealed that RTÉ’s highest-paid presenter 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 Thursday, the RTÉ Board issued an apology over the error, and later Ryan also apologised for not questioning RTÉ over his published earnings.
The scandal resulted in the suspension of RTÉ’s Director General Dee Forbes, who later resigned from her role.
