RTÉ refuses to release correspondence between Bakhurst and Tubridy about proposed return to broadcaster

The discussions came to an abrupt end after Mr Bakhurst took issue with Tubridy failing to take responsibility for the secret payments fiasco which rocked the national broadcaster in a statement after the publication of a report by Grant Thornton.

RTÉ told the Irish Independent that it cannot release any of the correspondence between Mr Bakhurst and Tubridy or his representatives under Freedom of Information (FOI) laws because the records are “programme-related”.

“As you might imagine, records of the type requested cover a range of issues such as programmes/podcast, terms and conditions, payments,” RTÉ’s FOI unit said. The station said other records are exempt as they concern “personal information” related to Tubridy.

It said that while some details in relation to the provisional agreement are known, the records sought are defined as “personal information” and therefore subject to a mandatory exemption from release. The broadcaster said, citing previous case law, that it could not identify a sufficient public interest reason that outweighed the right to privacy.

News of the decision comes just days after RTÉ declined to supply the Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) with a copy of former director general Dee Forbes’s contract and information about the exit packages of former top executives.

PAC chairperson Brian Stanley said it is “disappointing” that a number of “very important” documents were not provided. But Mr Bakhurst has rejected claims that the broadcaster is “refusing” to provide details of exit packages for former executives.

He said RTÉ is “fully co-operating with both committees and being as thorough and transparent as we possibly can, within what is permissible in law”.

Kevin Doyle: Explaining the fallout between Tubridy and Bakhurst

He said where documents have not been provided, this is because of legal and contractual obligations which preclude RTÉ from providing personal information. He also reiterated that no exit payment was made to Ms Forbes or former commercial director Geraldine O’Leary. “We are not ‘refusing’ to provide them,” he said.

He said RTÉ has provided the PAC with more than 160 documents requested, including one with over 500 emails relating to payments to Mr Tubridy and a lengthy chronology of key events relating to Mr Tubridy’s last contract.

“This follows the recent provision of more than 170 documents to the Joint Oireachtas Committee in advance of last week’s meeting,” he added.

Mr Stanley said senior executives are coming before the committee on October 5.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said RTÉ should give any information it can, but added: “I imagine they have legal advice. And of course if they breached the law or any confidentiality clause in doing so, they would then be open to a compensation claim and the cost of that will probably fall back on the taxpayer.

“So I think RTE needs to give any information that it can – but if it’s legally barred from doing so, I would understand why it can’t.”