Minister appoints forensic accountants to analyse RTÉ finances

Kenneth Fox

Minister for Media Catherine Martin has announced she is appointing Mazars as the forensic accountancy to examine the accounts of RTÉ under Section 109 of the Broadcasting Act.

They will initially focus on the barter account and any other off-balance sheet accounts. This scope may be expanded by the Minister.

Mazars will also collaborate and share findings with the two Expert Advisory Committees on Governance and Culture and on Contractor Fees, Human Resources and other matters as well as any third party consultants working with these Advisory Committees.

The Minister has also announced the appointment of Stephen Smith to the Expert Advisory Committee on Governance and Culture and Liam Kelly to the Expert Advisory Committee on Contractor Fees and Human Resources.

The committee memberships are now complete, and the Minister hopes to meet with the committees early next week.

The procurement for the advisory services to support these reviews is currently out to tender, and they are expected to start work in August.

Speaking about the announcement, Ms Martin said: “The appointment of Mazars as forensic accountants is a very important step in getting to the facts in RTÉ and shedding further light on the issues which have surfaced in recent weeks.

"I also want to thank Stephen Smith and Liam Kelly for agreeing to serve on the Expert Advisory Committees on Governance and Culture, and on Contractor Fees, Human Resources and other matters respectively.

"These expert committees will oversee the independent root and branch examination which will play a key role in restoring trust in RTÉ.”