Dee Forbes banging the RTE TV licence drum again 60m uncollected fee *poll not working - pl ignore*

Like I said it's a pragmatic management decision by RTE.

Read the post.

Then Brendan Griffin asked Eimear Cusack about the cost of the backdated bogus Employee's rights (Holiday, Maternity, Pension Pay etc.), Cusack looked straight away at Bakhurst. Bakhurst then have a waffley answer. It was obvious they had prepared for this question beforehand and Bakhurst was to answer it. You can be sure the cost will run into may millions. It is at ~3:55 in the recording.

Recording: https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/oireachtas-tv/video-archive/committees/8997

How can a company make the CFO position redundant? This is one of the most important roles in a company any company and usually the CFO is the last to leave and turn out the lights when a company folds. This is just a farce.

"It brings An Posts credibility into it too."

An Post are good at their core business. Everything else they delve in is expensive & inefficient. For many years, there has been a fall off in households ignoring the licence and An Post have done feck all to chase it, despite that it's been their gig.

It's your opinion lad, I'm entitled to mine. It's how discussion works.

Although my opinion went nowhere near a literal government TD accused him of doing yesterday.

Brendan Griffin, a Fine Gael TD, queried why RTÉ decided to pull advertising of the TV licence on channels outside its own platforms last July.

“Ultimately I made the decision for a number of reasons,” Bakhurst said.

“The main reason was because I thought that given what was emerging about RTÉ at that stage, and the constant scandal that was unfolding, I thought it would be inappropriate for us to be paying for adverts demanding people to pay the licence fee.”

Griffin was highly critical of this decision, claiming it was a deliberate attempt by the board to get rid of the licence fee and collapse revenues.

“Was this strategic? Is this part of hoping that the licence fee will ultimately fail and completely collapse and you’ll get what you were looking for,” the TD said.

So do you go along with Deputy Griffin's take on it ,in general, that there was an ulterior motive , I go with Backhursts take on it as a management decision.

I don't see anything else pal.

Don't think Deidre O'Keeffe will be paying back the money any time soon..

Kevin B indicated she left under the scheme and that there were "savings" made by 2 other employees leaving the department.

But that begs the question .. what savings were made to get rid of these 2 people?

I really think that there should be a fraud investigation to decide if D Forbes and D O' Keeffe concocted a scheme to allow DOK to leave with a huge severance package without complying with company policy.

It seems crazy that only 2 people were involved in the decision to give DOK the package .. and one of them seems to be DOK

Sick notes might not be so quickly accepted by the Gardai

The cheek of O'Keefe to have her solicitors contact Backhurst to have him say things on her behalf. Fair play to Backhurst in telling her to make them herself as she has an invite to the hearing. Maybe that's why he blurted out her package, he is just sick of having to deal with the crap that these cowards created. O'Keefe must have a high opinion of herself doing what she did.

I am surprised that the ordinary people that work in there are not out on strike or having work stoppages to show how angry they are. They should be out spitting bullets at these people and the unions should be up in arms as well at the carry on but not a word from them and no one has asked them their opinion. In one of the earlier PAC meetings there was a guy there that was suppose to represent the workers, was he there yesterday?

Why hasn't Dee Forbes been doorstepped by an RTE journalist like what you'd see on Prime Time.

No one believes she's sick.

Car crash with Catherine Martin on RTE Radio One.

I don't know why she is on air, she has nothing to add.

Edit: They are lining up Cusack for an exit package.

One results in what is a pragmatic management decision

It's not pragmatic to indulge in a practice that may require a further tax payers bailout.

Repeating it constantly won't make it so either.

It was at best a weird decision, but in reality it's further evidence of continuing incompetence. Maybe the government TD is right in his assertions, he would have access to more information than both of us.

Given we have the highest evasion rate in Europe, the DG would be much better focusing his attention on how that can be improved as the current methods and massive costs associated with it are clearly not working.

I do believe she has a large drive way and electric gate.

Coveney must have had huge power and influence in RTE to be able to steamroll a pet project with no governance.

As director of Strategy, he must have been very useful to his brother in FG.

It seems to me that potentially Dee and Breda didn't get on too well, but to say that is strange because Dee always had an exit date of either 2021 or 2023, its a medium term job, and they had to get to 2020 before she left, are you that desperate to leave because you have animosity toward a colleague?

I think the question "Where you afraid of Dee Forbes?" was a good one because it all doesn't make sense.

This is why both Forbes and O'Keeffe need to explain themselves. (was Dee massively disliked by everyone?).

As for removing people from their positions? Yes, it is difficult, I think you'd have to pay out severance pay.

The "bad publicity" doesn't seem to be abating any time soon.

So do we just forget about the legal obligation to inform people until Kevin decides to take his head out of the sand?

And keep letting the tax payers shovel in cash for short falls this may cause?

I'd rather not.

"That’s all I’m interested in……over!"

The 450k figure for O’Keeffe is a bit too round for my liking. Even under the fig leaf of a fake redundancy surely it should have been calculated at so many years service times relevant salary.

Then is this figure gross or net? Even under redundancy legislation that level of payment will attract significant tax. Also does it include or exclude lump sum payments due under her pension (up to 1.5 times salary assuming RTÉ gives gold-plated public service style pensions. She only worked 18 years but I have seen public servants make top up payments that are laughably cheap. For example Enda and Micéal were able to keep their teacher’s pensions going full whack for a pittance in comparison to the benefits.

I suppose the pension question will never be asked given the golden future awaiting the questioners too.

Let’s keep to the point of my post, my friend.

That is that almost any CE would take the same option as Mr Backhurst took given the circumstances his company was in. That it’s not “weird’ .

Everything else is supposition and nothing to do with my point.

Has the ‘penny’ dropped yet , buddy?

Over……..

Never going to happen. Civil Service/Semi States do not do compulsory redundancies. Its all big payouts/early retirement/exit packages etc

Well if they didn't open the door there wasn't much they could do. He said she wasn't there.

Somewhat surprised that she hasn't been snapped out and about. Wouldn't be entirely surprised if she was out of the country tbh.

Never realised that.....one would wonder is this why the government has let this shite storm continue....obviously not of course.