According to the senator, capping RTE’s wages will restore the broadcaster’s sense of community culture.
Independent Ronan Mullen is seeking a private member account with the Irish Seanad, which aims to ensure that the top RTE salary paid to the country’s media minister does not exceed €195,000 a year, reports The Mirror.
Mullen said his legitimate offer was timely after it was revealed last month that he had paid star Ryan Tubridy a salary of €345,000 between 2017 and 2022.
Since then, the crisis has expanded to further revelations about RTE’s internal financial, accounting and management practices.
During a hearing by two parliamentary committees in Dublin last week, senior directors of RTE raised a number of issues.
Mr Mullen’s proposals would require the public disclosure of any RTE salary corresponding to DT’s salary, which is €107,000. It is not clear whether the government intends to support the private deputy’s project, reports The Mirror.
“I think this is very damaging to public confidence in the broadcaster. We’ve maybe focused too much on corporate values and not enough on community values,” Mr Mullen said of the current controversy, reports The Mirror.
In an interview with RTE’s Morning Ireland programme, he added: “I think we need to just rediscover that sense of community culture and I think the corporate excess around some salaries has very been very damaging to that,” reports The Mirror.
The Cabinet is expected to sign the terms of a government-mandated external review of culture and governance at RTÉ when it meets on Tuesday.
Ms Martin is also scheduled to meet with RTÉ board chairwoman Seun Ni Raghaligh and new CEO Kevin Buckhurst in the coming days to discuss the external assessment.
Mr. Bakhurst plans to “restructure” the board once he takes office. His predecessor as CEO, Dee Forbes, resigned last week amid the fallout from the scandal.
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