Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has said that she does not know for how long the Oireachtas committees will continue their inquiries into the RTÉ pay scandal, but that at some point a line will have to be drawn.
Ms McEntee told RTÉ radio’s Today with Claire Byrne show that the information that had been presented to the Oireachtas committees was “put together” and made public so that everybody could see what had happened.
There were a number of strands to the issue, she said. It was important that as a publicly funded body RTÉ was held accountable, but it was also important that all the facts be made public.
Separately there was a process whereby Catherine Martin was seeking a forensic review “looking at the accounts again to make sure that all of the facts are there, that they're clear.”
The new director General Kevin Bakhurst had commenced work just this week, so he needed to be given time to take all the information that had been gathered and to make sure that trust was rebuilt in RTÉ to ensure that the structure within the organisation was transparent and that the public had confidence in the public service.
Ms McEntee said she had not heard any of the evidence presented to the committees. “Of course I've read and while I haven't been able to see in real time, I've read what has happened.”
Both committees now had to present their reports so that all the information could be analysed along with the forensic review, she added.
When asked if she thought Ryan Tubridy should be back on air, the Minister said: “Personally, I don't think it's for me to decide or to dictate who should or should not be on air.
“I think that's a matter for the director general and the RTÉ authority, and I know that he is obviously going to be taking into account all of the situations that have arisen, all of the information that he has, and then that decision will be made. So I really don't think it's appropriate for me as a Government minister to dictate who should or should not be on our radio.”
