RTE Director General Dee Forbes has been suspended by RTE amid the current controversy surrounding Ryan Tubridy.
Forbes took over at the state broadcaster in 2016, but has since come under heavy fire for her cost-saving measures at the broadcaster.
In a brief statement released to the media on Friday, RTÉ stated that Forbes was suspended from her position on Wednesday and added “there are processes on-going and RTÉ must be mindful of its legal responsibilities and the rights of individuals,” while further stating they will not be commenting more on the issue at this time.
It was announced in January of this year that the search was on for Forbes’ successor as the Director General, with no announcement made on who would succeed her in running the state broadcaster.
There have been calls for members of the RTÉ board to appear before the Public Accounts Committee as the case is a matter of public finances.
The bombshell revelations surrounding Tubridy on Thursday has drawn criticism from politicians, trade unions and even from within RTÉ itself, with Will Goodbody remarking that controversy was “one of its own making.”
In a statement, Moya Doherty, former chair of the RTÉ board said that the matters “go to the heart of a failure of good corporate governance” and that RTÉ’s reputation had been damaged by the incident.