RTE HR executive at centre of sweetheart deal scandal to leave Donnybrook station

"Ms Cusack knew about a €450,000 sweetheart deal with former chief financial officer Breda O'Keeffe for six years but didn't tell fellow executives. She also admitted writing a letter ­saying the redundancy was signed off by management. The payment was not cleared through the proper protocols. Ms Cusack says she raised concerns with the director general. She claimed it was for the director general at the time "to take the next steps to raise the matter with the executive board or the RTÉ board as she thought appropriate"."

""It is a fact that a separate and confidential arrangement was entered into between the former director general and the former CFO, whereby it was agreed to release the former CFO under the 2017 [Voluntary Exits Programme] scheme, without going through the normal VEP approval process," she told an Oireachtas committee last year. Ms Cusack also signed a letter saying the payment was all in order, "as approved by the executive board", even though it wasn't."

""This administrative oversight is one I take full responsibility for in my capacity as the signatory to that letter," she said. Ms Cusack was also involved in the controversy over the €3.6m loss on an infamous IT project. Part of the abandoned IT project was being built for the HR department, which Ms Cusack heads. Ms Cusack told the Oireachtas Media Committee she was responsible for the HR elements and the HR requirements of the IT project, which was not delivered."

Eimear Cusack will step down next year as HR director at the national broadcaster. She was among RTÉ's top five highest-paid staff on a salary of €275,000 and is not leaving as part of the redundancy programme. Cusack knew for six years of a €450,000 exit payment to former CFO Breda O'Keeffe but did not inform fellow executives. She admitted signing a letter stating the redundancy was signed off by management even though the payment had not followed proper approval protocols. Cusack says she raised concerns with the director general and expected escalation to the executive or RTÉ board. She accepted responsibility for an administrative oversight and had HR responsibility for a failed €3.6m IT project.

Read at Irish Independent