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Latest report into RTÉ practises yet another shocking indictment of upstairs downstairs culture in the organisation

31 January 2024


Commenting on the publication today by RTÉ today of the McCann Fitzgerald report into voluntary exit programme, Labour media spokesperson Marie Sherlock said the revelations today are yet another shocking example of an upstairs downstairs culture within the organisation.

Senator Sherlock said:

"There was an appalling situation where the former CFO of RTÉ was representing RTÉ’s financial situation to trade unions and staff, while then breaching the terms of the VEP and benefiting from that VEP even though her position was not supressed and the position was not filled by an internal recruit as per her “business case.”

"The failure to inform the Executive or the Board of the package is another example of the cavalier attitude of those running RTÉ, an environment that also allowed ideas like Toy Show the Musical to flourish rather than be scrutinised.

"While we all hope there is a line drawn on the sand on this sorry time in RTÉ, the reality is that there are workers still sore that they were actually denied a VEP because their roles could not be suppressed, yet a different rule was applied to the CFO and others.

"Furthermore, it is also the case that there are board members and members of the executive who operated in that era who remain in situ. The damage from these scandals remains to be seen today in TV licence revenues."