'There are remotes in the newsroom that don't work' - senior RTÉ journalist

In the wake of controversy around undisclosed payments to one of RTÉ’s biggest stars Ryan Tubridy, staff of the national broadcaster are now speaking out about the issue.

Dee Forbes announced her resignation as Director General this Monday morning while RTÉ’s Education Correspondent and Chair of National Union of Journalists (NUJ) Dublin Broadcasting Branch Emma O’Kelly said that “questions about the payments from 2017-2019 need to be answered.”

Speaking on Today with Claire Byrne on RTÉ Radio 1, Ms O’Kelly said the journalists she has been dealing with during her time as NUJ chair have echoed the same issues for years and that they have struggled with pay, zero hour contracts and even getting the resources they need for their job.

“We are told time and time again that there is no money. There are broken remote controls in the newsroom, it’s hard to even turn on a TV in there but this is also down to people's working conditions that people have been unhappy with for a long time," she said.

Following days of controversy, the broadcaster's Director General Dee Forbes issued a statement this morning in which she tendered her resignation "with immediate effect". She had been suspended last week.

The Minister for Media Catherine Martin has announced an external review of governance and culture at RTÉ over the weekend and representatives of the broadcaster are expected to appear before two separate Oireachtas committees later this week.