RTÉ’s current management inherited an “appalling situation” when they took up their jobs, according to Minister for Media Patrick O’Donovan, who has insisted he has confidence in director general Kevin Bakhurst and chairman Terence O’Rourke.“Do I have confidence in the chair and the board and the director general? I do, and I do on the basis that they inherited a bag of you know what,” he told the Oireachtas media committee on Wednesday. The Minister said the broadcaster’s management team “have had to try and untangle” problems that existed at the organisation long before they took up their roles.“It has to be said that the current chairman and the current director general inherited what can only be described as an appalling situation, which had been left for a number of years there with regard to barter accounts and things like that.”RTÉ was engulfed in controversy almost three years ago when it came to light that undisclosed payments were made to presenter Ryan Tubridy. Much of the senior management has changed since then, but RTÉ has faced fresh questions in recent weeks about who earns what and how it classifies staff.Committee chair Alan Kelly questioned how the top-10 earners list was compiled by RTÉ, noting people’s full remuneration packages were often not taken into account. “It’s absolutely pointless giving out a list of the top 10 presenters when there’s multiple buckets by which they’re being paid through,” the Labour TD said.“The only way you’re going to have transparency is [by] a whole-of-cost approach rather than just salary, but on top of that, any amounts that are being paid through other companies, whether they’re companies that they own or other companies that are paying them for doing work.”O’Donovan said he thought the time where RTÉ would provide such information was “fast approaching”.Kevin Bakhurst leaving Leinster House on May 20th following an appearance at the Oireachtas committee. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill/The Irish Times Bakhurst last week told the committee he was open to publishing more information about top earners, but previous efforts had been hamstrung by data privacy laws.O’Donovan said the Government’s plan to have RTÉ’s finances audited by the State’s spending watchdog, the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG), will mean greater transparency. The new Broadcasting Bill seeks to bring the national broadcaster under the remit of the C&AG’s office, led by Seamus McCarthy.“He won’t suffer fools gladly if he sees that people are being paid out of multiple buckets, as you call them,” O’Donovan said. In 2024, the Government announced funding of €725 million for RTÉ, covering 2025 to 2027.[ Shane Ross: Why politicians won’t fix RTÉ or let it failOpens in new window ]Social Democrats TD Sinéad Gibney raised the issue of Ireland’s upcoming Nations League games with Israel. Ireland is scheduled to play Israel away on September 27th, most likely in Hungary, and then at the Aviva Stadium on October 4th. There is widespread opposition to the staging of the fixtures.Gibney said the matches “must not go ahead”, adding: “We cannot engage as a State in the sportswashing of a genocide.”The Dublin Rathdown TD asked Minister of State at the Department of Sport Charlie McConalogue if he would “commit to covering any sanctions against the FAI if they choose to do the right thing and refuse to play Israel”.McConalogue said: “The decision in relation to playing the match is one for the FAI, it’s one for Uefa ... I think it’s the right decision for them to play the match.” Last November, the FAI sent a motion to Uefa calling for the Israeli FA’s suspension from European club and international competitions. McConalogue noted that this motion “wasn’t supported”, adding: “Uefa have made their decision ... the FAI have to work within that.” Both McConalogue and O’Donovan said they did not plan to attend the match in Dublin in October.