Chair of RTÉ board apologises over 'significant lapse in oversight' of Toy Show the Musical

The chair of the board of RTÉ has apologised to members of the public and staff at RTE following the publication of a report into Toy Show the Musical.

The independent investigation into the musical, which recorded losses of more than €2 million, has found the recording of the show's sponsorship money was "not in line with generally accepted accounting practices" and that there were "serious deficiencies" in terms of board oversight.

The anonymised report, prepared by Grant Thornton, also found that there was no formal consideration of the project by the RTÉ board until after a contract was signed with the venue - The Convention Centre in Dublin.

The 69-page report concludes that based on the planned number of shows, the musical would have struggled to break even.

"In respect of ticket sales, my analysis identifies that at no point in time there were more than 35 shows on sale to the public," states Paul Jacobs, the author of the report who notes, elsewhere in the report, that just over 11,000 tickets were sold.

In a statement, released this Thursday afternoon, Siún Ní Raghallaigh, chair of the RTÉ Board said the report confirms a "significant lapse in oversight" of the project.

"The Board acknowledged the serious deficiencies now highlighted in the report at a board meeting last July and has since taken the necessary steps to ensure there is no repeat of these failures," she said.

Ms Ní Raghallaigh added: "The report clearly illustrates that the board was not kept appropriately informed about the project as it was being developed. External expert advice was ignored. Information was also withheld from the board. Significant contracts were committed to, without the knowledge or approval of the full board.

"The (RTÉ) executive should have been interrogated by the board on the project, on an ongoing basis and in a much more rigorous fashion. The commercial risks associated with an undertaking of this nature were grossly underestimated. The project was not appropriately stress tested."

In her statement, Ms Ní Raghallaigh noted that the relationship between the board and the executive at the national broadcaster has been redefined and governance structures have been reformed and strengthened.

Speaking on the News at One on RTÉ Radio 1, she said some of what happened was "entirely inappropriate" and that she is satisfied it will not happen again.

During his investigation, Paul Jacobs spoke to 26 individuals and was provided access to RTÉ’s email system. He also interacted with the third party ticketing platform provider.

The report states that the former Director General of RTÉ Dee Forbes was unable to participate in the review for medical reasons.