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An internal health and safety review at a retirement meeting at RTÉ found five violations in relation to Covid 19 tips, protocols and regulations.
CEO Dee Forbes has said the breaches should not have occurred and apologized in a letter sent to staff this afternoon.
The review found there was one breach of a requirement of Level 5 restrictions to avoid crowded venues and three breaches of public health councils in the November 12 event.
These include some people who do not maintain social distancing, and where the two-meter rule was violated, some people were found not to wear face covers.
He said there was also a violation of RTÉ Covid-19 internal protocols for site visitors and a violation of the Plan to Live with Covid-19, as there should have been no indoor meetings that are not part of the delivery of RTÉ of an essential service.
CCTV footage shows that the meeting lasted approximately 20 minutes during lunchtime at the main entrance to the television center, which had a busy schedule of visitors.
He said a review of the images showed the number of people in this public area ranged from about 15 to 40, some of whom were there for other purposes.
It found that there were “a small number of non-staff present, which is not allowed unless such persons are involved in the provision of essential services.”
Furthermore, he said there is no evidence that the Covid-19 visitor questionnaire, which is a requirement under the RTÉ Covid-19 protocols, has been completed.
He also says that during the photo taking, there was an obvious deviation from a Covid-19 controlled environment, causing people to momentarily ignore public health advice to pose for photos in an unprotected manner.
The review makes a number of recommendations, including that everyone present at the meeting should retake RTÉ’s Covid-19 induction training and a review of protocols and visitor access.
The report said the violations should not have occurred and “this was a lapse that occurred for a moment.”
He said that all managers will be asked to attend a refresher training session to ensure that Covid-19 protocols are fully met.
The review said that gardaí is conducting an investigation into whether or not there were violations of Covid-19 regulations.
He said that some issues, such as the circumstances in which the meeting took place, were outside the scope of the review.
Read the review
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