RTE chairwoman reveals how much the broadcaster has forked out to settle self-employment cases

RTÉ has ​​put €21.3 million on ice to settle a bill with the Department of Social Welfare over the misclassification of workers at the national broadcaster. Aisling Moloney.

Terence O’Rourkethe new chairman of RTÉ’s board, made the revelation at the Oireachtas Media Committee this week.

It marks an increase of around 6 million euros from the 15.2 million euros that had been set aside at the end of 2022 to settle tax liabilities arising from the practice of “false self-employment” at the broadcaster.

A report by law firm Eversheds Sutherland in 2018 found that up to 157 workers at RTÉ were wrongly classified as self-employed.

The department then launched its own investigation into RTÉ and is now looking into 701 cases where workers were engaged as contractors but could have been entitled to employee status – losing out on benefits such as pension rights and holiday pay.

RTÉ will have to pay the department any outstanding PRSI payments where a worker should have been treated as an employee.

The broadcaster said last year that €1.2 million had been paid to the Revenue in relation to 35 misclassified employees.

A recent Government review said RTÉ needed to “intensify” its engagement with the department in the investigation after the station’s head of human resources warned it could take 15 years to resolve the issues.

Independent TD Mattie McGrath said RTÉ had “breached” social welfare legislation and said the station had a “rotten culture” in misclassifying workers.

At an Oireachtas Media Committee hearing this week, Mr O’Rourke told politicians there had been “mistakes” in the way RTÉ classified workers in the past.

He said: “Some of these areas are not straightforward. They are very complex areas, with different legal views on their interpretation.

“They are not just black and white. There are also grays inside.

“Every violation of the law that has occurred must be corrected and dealt with. There is no doubt about it,” he said.

Mr O’Rourke said the tax law written by the Oireachtas is “complicated” with “various legal interpretations”.

Mr McGrath said: “What kind of sacred cow is out there in Montrose that you can be above the law and continue to be above the law?

“The legislation has been repeatedly broken,” the Tipperary TD added. “It’s a rotten system and it’s not going to be fixed at RTÉ, and you’re going to get another big cash bailout.”

The government has agreed to give RTÉ a €40 million bailout after TV license sales slumped.

The Department of Social Protection began investigating RTÉ for misclassifying workers in 2020.

Head of HR Eimear Cusacksaid RTÉ is engaging with the department.

“We are making substantial progress with them. We have intensified our engagement with them,” she said.

Ms Cusack said RTÉ was now holding “weekly meetings” with investigators from the department and had provided them with “detailed information” about people who worked for the broadcaster as contractors.

The department has made 128 decisions on suspected cases of false self-employment.

So far, 86 of the cases have found that workers were misclassified as contractors while working with RTÉ.

RTÉ appealed 25 of these decisions and withdrew a further 16 appeals against the department’s decision.

Minister of Finance Michael McGrath said the government is working on a new funding model for RTÉ, after TV license sales fell by €27m last year.

Photo: Terence O’Rourke. Photo: Eamonn Farrell/© RollingNews.ie