Latest news with #KevinBakhurst
BreakingNews.ie
2 days ago
- Health
- BreakingNews.ie
Hiqa asks RTÉ for all nursing home documentary footage
RTÉ has said it will not hand over non-broadcast footage to The Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) without a statutory obligation or legal order. Hiqa said it has asked the national broadcaster to provide all footage it captured in the making of an RTÉ Investigates documentary into standards of care at two nursing homes. Advertisement The programme highlighted serious issues at two centres – The Residence Portlaoise and Beneavin Manor in Glasnevin, Dublin – which have been acknowledged as 'wholly unjustifiable' by Emeis Ireland. Hiqa, which is responsible for inspecting nursing homes, said it had notified gardai about its concerns arising from the programme. The authority's chief executive, Angela Fitzgerald, told the Health Committee on Wednesday: 'We've also asked RTÉ to give us all of the footage because they have, maybe, more information than we currently have. 'We also need to be able to see it, because we need to make sure that every resident, not just the ones that were on the screen, are safe. Advertisement 'And they have agreed to cooperate with us and hopefully they will be able to provide the information we need.' In her written submission to the same committee, Ms Fitzgerald said that RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst confirmed that the broadcaster 'will assist us in whatever way they can'. Asked about the comments, a spokeswoman for RTÉ confirmed it was engaging with Hiqa – which is due to request a meeting with the documentary team. However, she said: 'Any assistance provided by RTÉ will be referenced by our own guidelines, safeguards, protocols and procedures. Advertisement 'RTÉ does not hand non-broadcast footage to third parties without a statutory obligation or legal order.' She added: 'Hiqa have now confirmed they have referred incidents evidenced in the RTÉ programme to An Garda Síochána.'
RTÉ News
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- RTÉ News
Over 1m children to benefit from Toy Show Appeal grants
It has been announced that over a million children and their families will benefit from donations to the RTÉ Toy Show Appeal. 169 grants, totalling €5 million, will be distributed following the generosity of Late Late Toy Show viewers last December. The grants will support the work of registered charities and community groups across the island of Ireland. The RTÉ Toy Show Appeal began in 2020 and was inspired by the story of the late Saoirse Ruane from Kiltullagh, Co Galway, who won the hearts of the nation when she appeared on The Late Late Toy Show. Since its inception, the Toy Show Appeal has raised over €26 million. Announcing the grants, RTÉ Director General Kevin Bakhurst said: "The RTÉ Toy Show Appeal is one of RTÉ's most important initiatives - we are humbled by and grateful for the generosity of our Late Late Toy Show audience. "Your continued support has ensured that the RTÉ Toy Show Appeal will continue to make a positive difference to the lives of thousands of children and their families, across the island, north and south. "The memory of Saoirse Ruane lives on with every annual RTÉ Toy Show Appeal, as thousands of young lives are transformed year after year." The RTÉ Toy Show Appeal, in partnership with Community Foundation Ireland, has also announced that four charities - Exchange House, The Crann Centre CLG, The Jack and Jill Children's Foundation, and Women's Aid - are to receive transformative grants of between €95,000 and €140,000 each. The remainder of the donations will be split amongst 165 charities across the island of Ireland by charity partner Community Foundation Ireland who manage the grant process on behalf of RTÉ and its viewers. Other recipients include Pieta House, The Saoirse Foundation (Bumbleance), Oscar's Kids Ireland, Nasc the Migrant and Refugee Rights Centre, and the Irish Aerial Creation Centre. Over £325,000 has been awarded to 20 charities and organisations in Northern Ireland including Rainbow Child and Family Centre, The Cedar Foundation, In Your Space Circus, Lightyear Foundation, and Sticky Fingers. Denise Charlton, Chief Executive of Community Foundation Ireland, said: "Turning the huge generosity of The Late Late Show viewers into actions that support children and families in every county is a huge honour and one which all of us at Community Foundation Ireland are immensely proud. "Once again, we have used both our expertise as a grant-making philanthropic hub of 25 years as well as insights from communities, advocates, and researchers to deliver grants that deliver positive impacts and results. "Those insights allow us to respond to both long-standing and emerging challenges. Congratulations to all who have been successful. Your work with families will ensure that the magic of the Toy Show will continue to happen every day in our communities."
Extra.ie
29-05-2025
- Business
- Extra.ie
Kevin Bakhurst says €3.6m RTÉ loss is ‘very different' to past scandals
RTÉ will spend a further €1.6 million on a new human resources software system after previous efforts to upgrade it resulted in a €3.6 million write-down for the national broadcaster. But director general Kevin Bakhurst told politicians that while the write-down was 'very unfortunate', it was 'very different' from the financial scandals at RTÉ in 2023. He said the main part of the project, an updated finance system, had been delivered, while the HR element had not. RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst. Pic: Fran Veale He told the Oireachtas Media Committee yesterday: 'Big projects, and particularly big IT projects, can go wrong, and what I've looked back at is how the organisation tried to salvage that, and what are the lessons learned from that.' RTÉ's HR director, Eimear Cusack, said yesterday that the broadcaster is still using the same system that has been in place for the last 24 years, describing its condition as 'end of life'. But she also disclosed that the organisation is currently tendering for a new HR software. Richard Waghorn, RTÉ's chief technology officer, said that a budget of € 1.6 million has been approved for the system, which he anticipates will be delivered by next year. However, he noted that additional costs to maintain the system are expected on an annual basis. Eimear Cusack, Director of Human Resources, and Kevin Bakhurst, Director General, pictured arriving at Leinster House, Kildare Street, Dublin. Pic: Tom Honan RTÉ's appearance before the committee yesterday comes after the broadcaster confirmed that it had written down € 3.6 million on the partly failed IT system. Ms Cusack told the committee that the project 'ran into a number of difficulties'. 'I think that there were a number of issues that arose, particularly between the contractor and the subcontractor.' When it was put to her that the spec wasn't right, the right contractor wasn't chosen, and it was not properly project-managed, she said: 'I couldn't agree with that.' Eimear Cusack, Director of Human Resources. Pic: PA Wire She added: 'We put in our requirements, the contractor and the subcontractor who won the tender said that they could deliver on those requirements. Ultimately, the finance system was delivered upon. 'The HR system, they could not deliver on, but that was not known at the time that they signed up, and they said they could deliver on it.' Mr Bakhurst said that one example of the changes made as a result of this failure is that every month, the full list of significant capital projects now goes to the leadership team. Kevin Bakhurst. Pic: Fran Veale An RTÉ spokesman said that the new contract to provide the system is still out to tender and that a winning company has yet to be selected. The media committee also heard that 328 people had applied for RTÉ's voluntary exit programme (VEP), which was launched as part of efforts to slim down the broadcaster's workforce by 400 by 2028. Of these 328 staff, 127 will be made redundant this year. Mr Bakhurst said that RTÉ expects the cost of 2025 redundancies will reach € 15 million, equating to an average payment of €118,000 per head. RTE director general Kevin Bakhurst (left) and acting deputy-general Adrian Lynch. Pic: Brian Lawless/PA Wire But the director general stressed that the final cost will depend on the profile of those approved to exit the organisation this year, which has yet to be determined. Deputy director of RTÉ Adrian Lynch, chairman of the RTÉ board Terence O'Rourke, RTÉ chief financial officer Mari Hurley and director of commercial Gavin Deans also appeared before the committee. Ms Hurley said that there was a 4% decline in TV licence fee revenues in 2024 compared to 2023. 'The more significant declines that have been experienced in 2023 have been averted,' she said. Pic: Niall Carson/PA Wire Mr Bakhurst also confirmed that former RTÉ presenter Ryan Tubridy has not repaid the €150,000 he received from the broadcaster for two promotional events that did not take place. Mr Bakhurst has previously said Mr Tubridy had planned to return the money, stating that there was a 'moral case' to pay RTÉ back. He reiterated yesterday that he 'would like' the former Late Late Show host to return the sum. Taoiseach Micheál Martin was asked yesterday if he thought Mr Tubridy should repay the money, but said he wasn't going to get into any 'witch hunt'. 'I think there has been an element of a witch hunt in all of this over the last three years. So I'm not going to go like the herd and just join any sort of attack on any individual,' Mr Martin said. He also said that he knew that the wider media had its own interests in RTÉ, saying, 'You can fight your battles, I'm not driving anything'. Mr Martin said he was 'not here' to 'micromanage' RTÉ but noted that the broadcaster had made 'some progress' in terms of the commitments it had made in terms of its policy and role as a public service broadcaster.
Irish Times
29-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Ryan Tubridy willing to address repayment of €150,000 to RTÉ at ‘appropriate time'
Ryan Tubridy would have no major problem dealing at an appropriate time with the issue of €150,000 in controversial payments made to him by RTÉ , a source close to the broadcaster has said. However, there are unresolved issues between the former Late Late Show host and his former employer, including an outstanding data access request, the source said. 'It would be unreasonable to expect the issue (of the €150,000 payments) to be dealt with until those other matters have been resolved,' they added. Tubridy, who now works for Virgin Radio UK, and his agent Noel Kelly have made requests to RTÉ to access all data pertaining to them held by the broadcaster from around the time of the payments controversy that led to him leaving the organisation. READ MORE RTÉ is understood to have spent more than €100,000 in legal fees responding to the request, but it is understood there is a dispute between the parties on the extent of the information that should be provided. The requests were made under data protection law, which entitles people to see what personal information a body holds about them. It is understood the requests were submitted about 18 months ago but have not yet been finalised. RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst told the Oireachtas media committee on Wednesday that Tubridy had not repaid to the national broadcaster the €150,000 he received as part of a controversial payment deal in 2020. Tubridy was to be paid a total of €225,000 over three years by RTÉ as part of a deal brokered by him, Mr Kelly and the station in 2020. In return, for the payments, which were not disclosed publicly by RTÉ until 2023, he agreed to participate in three corporate events for Late Late Show sponsor Renault . The payments formed the centre of a controversy that resulted in Tubridy, then RTÉ's highest-paid presenter, leaving the station that year. Asked in 2023 if Tubridy should repay the €150,000 received for those events, Mr Bakhurst said it might not be possible, on a legal basis, to recoup the money. But he also said there was a 'moral case' for Tubridy to repay the sum. The payments were nominally made by Renault but RTÉ underwrote all three and effectively paid Tubridy. The sums were not classified in the broadcaster's annual accounts as salary payments. At the height of the controversy over the 'secret payments' in 2023, Tubridy indicated he would be willing to repay the money should he return to RTÉ.
Irish Times
29-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
The moving target that is RTÉ's woes
If there were one thing to be gleaned from Wednesday's Oireachtas media committee session with RTÉ 's leadership team, it is that the political focus has well and truly moved on since last summer. One of the big talking points to come out of last June's session with director general Kevin Bakhurst and co was the issue of outsourcing. The former BBC News editor was forced at the time to deny that the national broadcaster's transformation plan – a central plank of which is a contentious move to increase spending on outsourced, 'independent' productions – was tantamount to privatisation of in-house programming. All this after he was peppered with questions on the matter by members of the committee. Very little oxygen was expended on that issue on Wednesday. Instead, attention had largely shifted to RTÉ's latest financial foul-up: the €3.7 million or so written off on a troubled capital spending project to replace a legacy IT system in the organisation. But outsourcing has not gone away. Just last week, RTÉ announced plans to switch production of some religious programming – specifically, 'Christian worship content', as the broadcaster put it in a statement – to outside producers. It means Masses will no longer be broadcast from Donnybrook and will, instead, be produced by churches nationwide. READ MORE Asked briefly about it on Wednesday, Bakhurst said RTÉ hopes to get a 'different and a better product' out of the move and denied the broadcaster is phasing out religious programming. [ Ryan Tubridy has not repaid RTÉ €150,000 he received for Renault deal, Bakhurst tells media committee Opens in new window ] That will be cold comfort for staff, who are already concerned about the outsourcing of flagship programming such as Fair City and the Late Late Show, as announced last year. RTÉ's group of unions has reportedly written to the organisation's head of HR to request a meeting about last week's announcement. Asked on Wednesday about morale within RTÉ, Bakhurst diplomatically noted that it was 'very mixed'. Change is 'very difficult', he said, and there remains 'a very high level of anger and disappointment' about the 2023 secret payments scandal. In some areas of the organisation, however, morale is 'very good', the director general claimed. Against a backdrop of redundancies and outsourcing, it is difficult to imagine where these pockets of good feeling might be.
