Catherine Martin has said that she did everything she could to avoid saying that she had no confidence in the former chair of the RTÉ board during a live TV interview.
She denied that advisers had moved to plant a question on confidence in the chair during the on-air appearance.
The Minister for the Media has been coming under criticism over her handling of the latest RTÉ fallout.
Catherine Martin has been accused of making a “serious blunder” after she went on live TV and refused to express confidence in Siún Ní Raghallaigh, the chair of the RTÉ board.
The minister said she had been misinformed on two occasions by Ms Ní Raghallaigh about the board’s involvement in approving an exit package for a former RTÉ executive.
Ms Ní Raghallaigh resigned from her position hours later, prompting opposition parties to question Ms Martin’s handling of the matter at a crucial time for the broadcaster.
Asked why she chose to prioritise an interview on RTÉ Prime Time over a meeting with the chairwoman, Ms Martin said it was “a pre-arranged interview”.
“I felt it would be wrong for me to pull out of an interview that had been pre-arranged,” she said.
“I had to be transparent on that programme. And it was a case of I just could not express confidence in someone, but I was doing everything I could, under repeated questioning, to not say I have no confidence because I wanted to afford the opportunity to speak to her on the Friday morning.”
Asked how she didn’t foresee a question about whether she had confidence in the chairwoman of the RTÉ board, she said it was “impossible” to predict.
“I think I was pushed on a number of occasions and was trying to do my best not to say I have no confidence. I was trying to keep the door open as much as possible (until) that meeting on the Friday.”
She said that the weekend before last, she was reading a media report about an exit package for the former director of strategy Rory Coveney, which stated that the chairwoman had an approval role in it.
“I found that a little bit astonishing because I would have been absolutely confident that that happened in July, it had been conveyed to me as a resignation.
“So I asked in that meeting (last Monday), why haven’t you clarified this error in the report, a statement from RTE saying that the former chair, with the DG, had approved that package, because I just couldn’t understand how it was still there 24 hours later and hadn’t been clarified.”
She was told “it was inaccurate, and they had no role”.
“And I asked the chair ‘Did you know that it wasn’t a resignation and not tell me?'”
“And I was told: ‘Yes, I did know. I should have told you. I’m sorry, I forgot’.
“That was the first thing that happened on the Monday. And that led to the next question in relation to ‘had you any role whatsoever in the other package?’ and said ‘no, I did not have any role in that’.”
She said she went out to “correct the record” on Monday evening to state that the board had “no role whatsoever” in approving either packages for Mr Coveney or former chief financial officer Richard Collins.
She added that she did not think the inaccurate information was given on purpose by Ms Ní Raghallaigh: “I do not believe it was intentional, but that does not take away from the fact (of) getting inaccurate information on several occasions, there’s an issue there.”
She said she was not going to seek Ms Ní Raghallaigh’s resignation on Friday morning.
Asked whether her “blood was up” before going on Prime Time over being given incorrect information by the chair, Ms Martin said “certainly not”.
“Anyone that knows me knows I’m not someone who would act like that.”
Asked whether political advisers had held discussions with the Prime Time team about “planting” a question of confidence, Ms Martin said it was flagged that she was willing to address a question about having been given incorrect information.
“As I pulled up to Prime Time, I did become aware that the news was about to break that I had been given the incorrect information that day. And so it was flagged that I was willing to speak to the issue.”
Asked again whether a question in respect of having confidence in Ms Ní Raghallaigh was planted, Ms Martin said: “No absolutely not.”
Ms Martin said she had confidence in RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst, despite him being present alongside Ms Ní Raghallaigh in a meeting with Ms Martin last week.
She said her relationship was with the chair of the board, and the role of the director general was “distinct” from that.
“Either they should both be gone, or they should both be in their jobs,” Fianna Fáil Senator Shane Cassells suggested.
Asked whether Mr Bakhurst spoke to contradict the comments made by Ms Ní Raghallaigh during the meeting, Ms Martin said “no”.
Ms Martin said she will look to appoint a new chair of the RTÉ board “as soon as possible” and will be meeting the RTÉ board “in the coming days”.
