RTE boss says there is little he can do to solve the Seán Rocks pay row
RTÉ Director General Kevin Bakhurst has said he is limited in how far he can intervene in the pension and pay classification dispute involving the late broadcaster Seán Rocks.
In a message to staff, seen by the Irish Daily Mail, Mr Bakhurst said that while he was willing to meet with Seán Rocks’s partner, Catherine Bailey, he could not make special interventions in individual cases, despite acknowledging the distress surrounding the situation.
The comments came after Ms Bailey spoke emotionally on RTÉ Radio One about what she described as a long-running struggle by Mr. Rocks to resolve concerns over how he was classified within the organisation.
RTÉ Sean Rocks. Pic: Andres Poveda
Mr. Rocks, who presented the arts and culture programme Arena on RTÉ Radio One for many years, died last year following a short illness.
Speaking to broadcaster David McCullagh, Ms Bailey said her late partner repeatedly raised concerns that he had been categorised as a producer rather than a presenter, which she believes affected his pension and related entitlements.
She said he had tried for several years to have the matter addressed, but felt his concerns were never properly resolved.
RTÉ Sean Rocks. Pic: Andres Poveda
Ms Bailey also revealed that she became aware of potential issues with pension calculations while dealing with his affairs after his death, saying the figures she received from HR did not appear to reflect his long career in broadcasting.
Earlier this week, Labour TD Alan Kelly told the Oireachtas Media Committee that Ms Bailey and her two sons may have to leave their family home later this summer.
Mr Bakhurst told staff that pension and life assurance cases involving deceased employees must be handled in accordance with existing rules and criteria, including salary structures, service length, and contractual arrangements.
He said RTÉ aimed to apply the same standards across all cases and warned that making exceptions in one situation could have implications for other current or former employees with similar pay structures involving allowances.
Addressing the controversy at the Oireachtas Media Committee, Mr Bakhurst said there were potentially many RTÉ staff members whose earnings included a mix of salary and allowances.
RTE director-general Kevin Bakhurst at the RTE campus in Donnybrook, Dublin. Pic: Brian Lawless/PA Wire
The issue has emerged amid broader scrutiny of RTÉ’s payment and classification systems following revelations that broadcaster Derek Mooney had been excluded from the broadcaster’s published top earners list for several years because he had been categorised internally as a producer rather than a presenter.
Mr. Kelly has called on RTÉ to resolve the matter, saying the organisation has a duty of care towards Mr. Rocks’s family and arguing that broader legacy employment issues within the broadcaster should now be addressed comprehensively.
In his internal message, Mr Bakhurst rejected suggestions RTÉ was acting without compassion, saying staff involved in dealing with bereaved families aim to approach such cases sensitively, while acknowledging that the organisation could ‘always do better’.
