A “negative work culture” threatens to cause staff attrition at the new media and online safety regulator, Coimisiún na Meán, according to a report by Deloitte.
A lack of robust financial controls at the regulator carries an increased risk of fraud, it said, and the new body, which is to be funded by a levy on broadcasters and online platforms with headquarter operations here, risks a “pushback” from those levied if it fails to fulfil its duties, according to the report.
A copy of the May 2024 report, which was commissioned by the new regulator’s executive chair, Jeremy Godfrey, was released after a Freedom of Information request.
The commission was created in March 2023 and incorporates the former Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI), which was funded by a levy on broadcasters. The new body is being funded by the exchequer while its more extensive levying system, which is to eventually support an annual €50 million budget, is being developed.
The commission has grown quickly and now has approximately 200 staff and five commissioners. The BAI had approximately 40 staff.
However, the report from Deloitte found the finance structure inherited from the BAI was not fit for purpose in the larger organisation, and there was a “fragmented employee onboarding process” and insufficient staff training.
“BAI may have had public sector policies and procedures, but these were not adhered to nor well documented,” the report said.
Among the challenges facing the new regulator was a public reputation and brand risk, it said. The commission has “a reputation to uphold with the departments [of Media and Public Expenditure] and the public. Not fulfilling department requests will cause further breakdown of trust and damage CnM’s reputation. In the future, this may pose challenges in securing funding and approvals from the departments.”
Earlier this year it was reported that the Department of Media grew concerned after the commission sought to spend up to €2 million on furniture for its Dublin offices. The expenditure did not go ahead and the regulator said the tender was to allow for future costs as well as immediate expenditure of €500,000.
It was also reported that, in a letter to Mr Godfrey on June 26th, Department of Media secretary general Feargal Ó Coigligh said assurances on financial issues provided by the regulator had come into question following the Deloitte review.
The Deloitte report noted that the finance and internal audit functions did not include the processes used for issuing grants for broadcasting programmes in the State. The grants usually go to private production companies.
The new regulator also funds public interest journalism, including reporting on courts and local authorities, and has a key role in protecting people, especially children, from harmful online content.
There was an “urgent need” to rescore the internal audit workplan to ensure adequate disclosures in the regulator’s 2023 financial report, the Deloitte report said.
It identified improved communication with departments, and “mobile phone policy rationalisation”, among the “quick wins” that were available. There was a “lack of appreciation” of the significance of the regulator’s relationship with the department, given its interim model of exchequer funding, the report said.
[ Tensions unpicked between Coimisiún na Meán and Department of MediaOpens in new window ]
Coimisiún na Meán, in a statement, said it is improving its finance and governance procedures in the wake of the Deloitte report and that, because of the expansion in functions of the new regulator compared with the BAI, it is also to increase the scale of its internal audit work.
