In all the heat of the debate this week, we have to recall that Ireland has lots to be proud of when it comes to public service broadcasting and that has to be said. However, there are many areas where we can do better. We boast generations of talented writers and artists, many of whom have had to leave these shores to have their work seen and heard. The work of many who are here and are contributing so much to news coverage and the creation of content here at home is desperately undervalued by our national broadcaster. Far too many of those who keep the lights on and the cameras rolling at RTÉ are denied a fair wage, a pension, holidays and maternity leave because they are trapped on bogus self-employment contracts. That is the reality. These workers' rights issues are not receiving enough scrutiny. Instead, our time is preoccupied by what our colleague, Senator Marie Sherlock, has rightly described as the upstairs-downstairs culture that prevails at RTÉ and the indefensible conduct of a few at the top. Yesterday’s committee appearances confirmed that. People were rightly shocked at the revelation that the former director general of RTÉ signed off on a €450,000 retirement payment for the former chief financial officer, Breda O’Keeffe. People are also shocked when they compare this extraordinary outlay with RTÉ's decision to spend tens of thousands of euro appealing findings made by the Department of Social Protection on bogus self-employment practices at the station. Those who are most demoralised by the revelations of the past year, the revelations of secret golden handshakes, are the staff on the ground who are paying for the very flaithiúlach approach being taken by those at the top to the resources of a struggling public body.

We all want to move on and focus on issues such as the workers' rights I have mentioned and, crucially, the key issue of the future funding model for the broadcaster, which the Government has not yet answered. The Government and RTÉ also have questions to answer about the past conduct of those at the top. The Tánaiste said just now that there must be transparency and accountability and he said earlier today that the exit package given to Breda O’Keeffe should be reassessed. Indeed, he suggested she might consider paying back excessive amounts. However, this is not just about one individual’s retirement deal. I think the Tánaiste agrees with that. We know there are others. RTÉ's former director of strategy, Rory Coveney, also received an exit package when he resigned in July but we do not know the value of that payment or what it was for. When asked, a spokesperson said that RTÉ could not provide more information.

We know that everybody wants to turn over a new leaf and focus on real issues but that cannot happen while public money is apparently still being spent sustaining the bad culture of old and fighting those who are bearing the brunt of this crisis at the Workplace Relations Commission or the High Court. Can the Tánaiste say how the Government is going to go about achieving that accountability and transparency he has said is so badly needed? While we in the Labour Party absolutely support decent investment in public service broadcasting, and pay our TV licences, we still need to know how much of the public money going into the national broadcaster has been spent covering the costs of yet another lucrative exit package and how much has been spent fighting the rights of workers who are struggling at the bottom of the system in RTÉ.

I agree with the Deputy on almost everything she has said. Her point about bogus self-employment contracts is valid. She has consistently raised the matter and it is a very serious issue. A significant and comprehensive investigation is under way. The Department of Social Protection commenced that investigation into the PRSI classification of RTÉ contractors. RTÉ provided the Department with a list of 695 workers engaged on a contract basis in 2018, 2019 and 2020. These form the basis of the investigation. It is a significant investigation. This is a very serious issue that potentially undermined the rights of many workers within RTÉ. Decisions have issued in respect of approximately 131 workers. Some 89 workers were found to have employee status to which class A PRSI applies, while 42 workers were found to be self-employed and insurable at class S PRSI. Some 48 decisions have been appealed. It is important that the investigation continues. A total of €1.7 million in compliance has been notified to RTÉ to date and the total liability repaid to date by RTÉ amounts to €1.2 million.

That investigation has to conclude but there is a more fundamental question then in terms of future workforce composition, the rights and entitlements for people working for RTÉ and not applying pressure to workers to declare themselves to be independent contractors when they are doing the same work that they were doing as employees and losing out on entitlements consequent to being full-time employees.

I also agree about the centrality of public service broadcasting. We must not lose sight of that. I agree that there must be full transparency and there should be no secrecy or confidentiality in terms of any package because it is public money. I also accept that for staff on the ground in RTÉ, morale is further undermined by these revelations. The Minister has initiated comprehensive reports into RTÉ on governance and culture, and they will have to form the basis for new structures that will deliver accountability and that will also give confidence and trust to the Oireachtas and to the Government in terms of reforms of the funding system. All along we have been told to rush a decision in respect of a situation that is clearly not satisfactory at the moment. There has to be clear informed light, if you like, and evidence on which to base new decisions in respect of that. I am conscious that in the area of foreign affairs, RTÉ's capacity is significantly reduced in terms of what it can cover and in terms of the complexity and analysis required for what is going on globally in the world today. It is not what it should be, in my view, in terms of public service broadcasting.

I thank the Tánaiste for responding on the issue of workers' rights at RTÉ. Indeed, there are very serious issues for workers at levels below those top management levels at RTÉ. Trevor Keegan, chair of the National Union of Journalists, NUJ, group at RTÉ said today that the impending redundancies at RTÉ loom large and that the prospect is impacting morale among staff at all levels below top management. The Tánaiste is right about that. When will we see results? When will we see an outcome from the Minister's review? When will we see actual improvement in conditions for those who are currently on those bogus self-employed contracts, those who are incorrectly being described by RTÉ as contractors when they are actually staff? When will we see certainty and clarity for staff on their future? That relies on a future funding model and we have not got clarity from the Government in that regard.

The Tánaiste has said he wants transparency and accountability around past conduct and payments made to those at the top. We still have a real lack of information and clarity about the payments made to others, beyond Breda O'Keeffe. Kevin Bakhurst took up his position on Monday, 10 July. Rory Coveney announced his resignation on Sunday, 9 July.

We still have no clarity about exit payments in this regard, nor about exit payments to others at the top level in RTÉ. We need to know from the Government what it is going to do about it.

I expect to have the recommendations of the two expert advisory groups, on governance and culture and on contractor fees, human resources and other matters, shortly. They will be incorporated into a new strategy for RTÉ, which will come to the Government. They will bring clarity to the basis on which the Government will make decisions on the future funding of RTÉ. In the interim, there will have to be absolute transparency regarding packages; there should be no secrecy. The chair, Siún Ní Raghallaigh, and the director general, are working very hard to restore trust. This is being done in parallel with the process of revelation and necessary accountability before the Oireachtas committees. Parallel with that, we have to create stability within the public service broadcaster. We have to create a future and ensure the broadcaster can grow and recover from this period. We are very focused on that imperative, and our actions will follow that.