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1 week ago | 
independent.ie | Tabitha Monahan
Earlier this week, the Tánaiste secured cabinet approval to begin drafting a bill that would see the trade of goods with the occupied Palestinian territories banned. While Opposition parties have criticised the Government for omitting a ban on services from the bill, the Government have said not including services is off the back of legal advice. In response to questions from TDs in the Dáil on Thursday, Mr Harris confirmed he will look for updated advice from the Attorney General.
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1 week ago | 
independent.ie | Tabitha Monahan
Representatives from the Arts Council, the National Gallery and the Department of Arts and media appeared before PAC, largely due to the €6.7m the Arts Council spent on a failed IT system that was meant to be used for grant applications. News that Ms Kennelly was to step down as director emerged on Wednesday, one day before she came before the committee.
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1 week ago | 
independent.ie | Tabitha Monahan |Gabija Gataveckaite
RTÉ representatives, including the director general Kevin Bakhurst, appeared before the Oireachtas Media Committee where they were quizzed on a failed IT system that resulted in a €3.6m write down. However, the committee was told there was another IT project, this time a channel management system (CMS), that went over budget by €900,000. The revelation came in an answer to Social Democrats TD Sinead Gibney, who asked were there other IT systems that ran into issues.
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1 week ago | 
independent.ie | Tabitha Monahan |Gabija Gataveckaite
The Dáil chamber was at almost full capacity on Wednesday night with a number of bills to be voted on. One of which was Sinn Féin’s motion which looked to stop Ireland’s involvement in the sale of Israeli war bonds. During a debate on the bill yesterday protests took place in the public gallery of the Dáil chamber. The Government had indicated prior to the vote that it would not support the bill for legal reasons.
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1 week ago | 
independent.ie | Tabitha Monahan
Communication between the executive and RTÉ board was not good at time of IT system failure, says Mr Bakhurst Around €750,000 of €3.6m write off were in staff costsRTÉ license fee earnings declined marginally in 2024 compared to 2023Cost of the controversial promo ad for RTÉ New is ‘less than €100,000’RTÉ estimates voluntary exit package will cost about €15mRTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst and the broadcaster’s leadership team appeared before an Oireachtas Media Committee today.
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1 week ago | 
independent.ie | Tabitha Monahan
RTE DG Kevin Bakhurst has said that the cost of the controversial promotional advertisement in the newsroom is “less than €100,000” and comes from the overall marketing budget of €2m. In relation to extras being brought in, he said journalists were not available because they were “too busy.”He said "a couples of plants were moved from elsewhere in RTÉ" to cover up electrical points. "There were two plans.
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1 week ago | 
independent.ie | Tabitha Monahan
RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst and the broadcaster’s leadership team will go before an Oireachtas Media Committee today. He and fellow staff members, including chairperson Terence O'Rourke and Adrian Lynch, are due to answer questions relating to policy, governance, expenditure and administration at RTÉ. The meeting, chaired by Alan Kelly, will question the station’s executives on a range of issues including the €3.6m lost on a partly-failed IT system.
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1 week ago | 
independent.ie | Tabitha Monahan
‘I’m not afraid to ask the hard questions’ – Fine Gael senator and former RTÉ presenter Evanne Ní Chuilinn will quiz former bossesBroadcast chiefs to appear before Media Committee this afternoonFormer RTÉ journalist and television presenter Evanne Ní Chuilinn is now a senator. Photo: Mark CondrenSenator Evanne Ní Chuilinn has said she is not afraid to ask her former employer RTÉ tough questions when the national broadcaster appears before the Media Committee today.
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1 week ago | 
independent.ie | Tabitha Monahan
On Tuesday, cabinet approved the drafting of the general scheme of the bill which will ban the importation of goods from the Occupied Territories. The government has come in for criticism as a result of the omission of services from the bill. It is expected that the bill will be drafted and ready for committee stage scrutiny in June. Social Democrats Senator Patricia Stephenson said the Dáil should sit during the summer recess, which will begin in July, to pass the Occupied Territories Bill.
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1 week ago | 
independent.ie | Mary Regan |Tabitha Monahan
Michael McGrath said the US must be “willing to engage and reach a compromise” if a deal is to be reached. But he said the stakes are high and failure to reach agreement would mean economic devastation for both sides. US president Donald Trump has agreed to delay a threatened 50pc tariff on all EU goods – which he announced just on Friday – until July 9. It followed what he said was “a very nice phone call” with the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
