"The commercial partnership between RTÉ and Penneys has been in place for 10 years, during which Penneys donated more than €650,000 to children's hospital charities and the RTÉ Toy Show Appeal while promoting its family pyjama sets and accessories on the live show. Last year, it paid €100,000 to the RTÉ Toy Show Appeal and a further €20,000 to Children's Health Foundation to help sick children seeking medical care. The RTÉ Investigates programme aired on Wednesday night and uncovered how Bangladeshi factories who supplied major Irish retailers, including Penneys, were sourcing cotton from Chinese suppliers that had used Uyghur workers under a Chinese state-backed forced labour programme."
"In a statement, RTÉ explained why the partnership has been ended for this year. "The RTÉ Late Late Toy Show partnership with Penneys will not go ahead this year for a number of reasons relating to challenges in adhering to the timeline necessary to ensure key deadlines could be met," the statement said. It said the partnership would be revisited for the 2026 instalment of The Late Late Toy Show. The broadcaster also addressed the the RTÉ Investigates programme, saying that RTÉ "conducts due diligence on all commercial partners and keeps all commercial partnerships under review". It added that any ethical or environmental issues relating to commercial partners would be reviewed by RTÉ. Penneys released a statement saying the partnership was "paused" because the "Penneys ordering deadline for The Late Late Toy Show pyjamas coincided with the initial conversations with RTÉ Investigates." The chain was responding to ethical issues raised in the Wednesday night programme. "There is no suggestion of any link between the [Toy Show] range and the questions raised in the programme," Penneys said in its statement to RTÉ Investigates, adding that it was "very pro"
Penneys donated over €650,000 to children’s hospital charities and the RTÉ Toy Show Appeal during a decade-long commercial partnership. Last year Penneys contributed €100,000 to the RTÉ Toy Show Appeal and €20,000 to Children’s Health Foundation. An RTÉ Investigates programme found Bangladeshi factories supplying Irish retailers, including Penneys, sourced cotton from Chinese suppliers that reportedly used Uyghur workers under a state-backed forced labour programme. RTÉ said the partnership will not proceed this year due to timeline challenges and will be revisited for 2026. RTÉ said it conducts due diligence on commercial partners and will review any ethical or environmental issues. Penneys said the partnership was paused, denied any link between the Toy Show range and the programme’s questions, and cited ordering deadlines coinciding with initial conversations.
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