Fianna Fáil Senator Timmy Dooley has said that RTÉ GAA commentator Marty Morrissey was “unfairly and unnecessarily” pulled into the RTÉ pay controversy at the Oireachtas PAC meeting on Thursday.
Senator Dooley told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland that his questions at the PAC meeting had queried who in RTÉ was getting paid a car allowance out of licence fees? Were there people getting a car allowance who did not have a car or even a driver’s licence?
“But for some reason, RTÉ management decided to create this notion about an individual who had a car loan, etc., etc., creating a level of hype, and it required Marty Morrissey then to effectively clarify the situation.
“In his case, he's not getting a car allowance. And so his situation didn't relate to the question that was asked. And neither is he a car ambassador. So I'm sort of somewhat confused as to why RTÉ management decided to create a situation for Marty that required him to come out now and clarify the situation.”
When it was pointed out that Ryan Tubridy had been taken off air because of the controversy, Mr Dooley said that the two situations were entirely different. In the Tubridy case significant payments were made “in a clandestine way” that effectively hid the payments.
“Marty Morrissey has gotten nothing from RTÉ, from the licence holder other than his salary. So therefore, quite frankly, he has been pulled into this controversy, I think unfairly and unnecessarily.”
It had been a car loan, no licence fee funds were involved, no RTÉ money was involved, he said. “He has been paid for the work that he has done. And yes, he had an arrangement, as he said in relation to the loan of a car. He has explained that and they are two entirely different situations.
At the end of the day, somebody at senior management in RTÉ signed off on Ryan Tubridy’s contract.
“I think we've got to be careful through all of this in trying to get to the bottom of resolving the culture in RTÉ that we don't scapegoat people. And I think the same applies to some extent to Ryan, probably because they're high profile names.
“They get outed and people make comments and they get somewhat carried away in public discourse. At the end of the day, somebody at senior management in RTÉ signed off on Ryan Tubridy’s contract. That wasn't Ryan Tubridy’s fault, quite frankly, himself and his agent or his agent on his behalf, sought to do the best deal they could, unwise perhaps that they've pushed it so far, but not nothing wrong with somebody trying to fight to get the greatest deal for themselves.
“But it was up to RTÉ management, and it was up to the powers that be there, to say, no, that's not appropriate. We're not going to pay you that money, and we're certainly not going to get into some kind of an arrangement that we will hide this from the public.
“That's where the issue arises and that's where we still have to get answers from key people in RTÉ who have yet to come before the committee to explain to the license payer why they thought it was okay to set up arrangements in a clandestine way to funnel money in a particular direction and then to conceal it.
"That's where the issue is here. And let's not get caught on the margins here or on personalities, whilst it might make good headlines in the tabloids. It still doesn't get to the root of what actually happened within the management structure.
“I think in fairness to Marty Morrissey, he came forward with a very open and frank statement. He has issued apologies. He has identified the practice as being unwise. Who amongst us haven't done things that were unwise and with the benefit of hindsight, might have done things a little bit differently or that of itself does not target the person as being responsible for what's actually happening at management level within RTÉ."
Mr Dooley added: “Out of all of this we have to get to, and hopefully we will see that next week with the taking up of the post of the new director general, a change in approach and an attempt to change the culture of management.
"There's no doubt and I've said this on a number of occasions already, we've seen the best and the worst of it in recent days. The extent to which the news and current affairs department have held its senior management to account is wonderful.
“I have to say they haven't shied away from it in the same way as they would with the politicians or with Government or with any other aspect of public life. So we're seeing the real benefits of a strong public service broadcaster, and RTÉ is at the pinnacle of that tree.
"And it has done an absolutely wonderful job in the last two weeks. But we now need to see a little bit more candour from senior management. We need to see a bit more openness, and we need to see people being prepared, always to take responsibility.”
