Here is how some People avoid responsibility ...RTÉ chief financial officer Richard Collins is to resign.
The lead accountant in the national broadcaster was a key figure in the RTÉ payments scandal.
RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst announced the departure at a meeting of staff in Montrose this afternoon.
Strange how it works .Garda asks Judge not to give him a record .Accountant that signed off on bogey accounts resigns so he dosent have to answer questions .Taxi driver Stands for hire in the wrong place gets a fine and a bollocking .
Geraldine O'Leary gets to retire before answering all the questions.
RTÉ PAYMENTS SCANDAL
Former RTÉ commercial director did not contribute to barter account review
Geraldine O’Leary came under political fire over the misuse of such accounts, through which her team spent thousands of euros on client events
KILLIAN WOODS
AUGUST 29, 2023
Geraldine O’Leary: Former RTÉ commercial director resigned in the middle of the payments scandal at the broadcaster, just weeks before her planned retirement. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA
Geraldine O’Leary, former commercial director of RTÉ, did not contributed to Mazars’ examination of the national broadcaster’s controversial barter accounts, the Business Post has learned.
In June, following revelations that a barter account was used to top up Ryan Tubridy’s salary, the use of this system was the focus of intense scrutiny by politicians across several Oireachtas committee hearings.
In late June, O’Leary was specifically questioned about how the barter account was used by her unit at Oireachtas hearings when documents released by RTÉ showed that total expenditure through the barter system over the past decade was €1.6 million.
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Tens of thousands of euros was spent by O’Leary’s unit on events and trips for clients, with this expenditure specifically criticised by politicians.
Following the hearings, O’Leary announced on July 10 she would take early retirement with immediate effect.
When details emerged about the use of the barter account, Catherine Martin, the Minister for Media, commissioned Mazars to carry out an examination of how the barter accounts were used by RTÉ. The review commenced on July 17.
When asked by the Business Post if O'Leary contributed to Mazars’ review, a spokesman for the Department of Media confirmed that only personnel present at RTÉ from July 17 onwards contributed to the review.
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“The report does not identify individuals with whom Mazars has engaged as part of the examination. However, it can be confirmed that engagement has been only with those present in the organisation as of the review commencement,” the spokesman said.
When asked if O’Leary was invited to contribute to the review, a spokeswoman said the review is ongoing and the necessary examination of all relevant records is not yet complete.
“As set out in the terms of reference for the review, Mazars may meet with any relevant person. However, at this stage, and as the interim report does not identify any individual, at this stage it would not be appropriate to comment on those individuals who have engaged, or been asked to engage, as part of the review.”
Last week, Catherine Martin, the Minister for Media, released the interim findings of Mazars’ review into RTÉ’s use of barter accounts. The published report gave limited detail on who provided information as part of the review.
“Meetings with RTÉ (interim) executives and staff (primarily to date in the Commercial Finance, Finance and Sales teams) to discuss the matters set out in the Terms of Reference, and information and documentation provided to the review team, and any clarifications to date from the review team. At all times, RTÉ personnel made themselves available to us for the purposes of the Review," the report said.
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Key findings of the interim Mazars review said that there was no “formal approval process” within RTÉ’s commercial arm for making purchases through its controversial barter account and has highlighted a number of internal failures at the national broadcaster.
The report published on Friday found numerous issues including an apparent lack of signed contracts between RTÉ and barter media agencies; no properly documented policy or procedures and inadequate record keeping; an absence of budgetary reporting for barter account purchases; and no formal list of approvers for purchasers.
The full review is expected to be finalised in October.
