Catherine Martin expected to face another grilling from Media Committee as RTÉ saga continues

The Media Minister is also coming under opposition pressure to answer questions in the Dáil following a highly critical letter from former RTÉ director general Siún Ní Raghallaigh earlier this week.

In a withering statement criticising Ms Martin, Ms Ní Raghallaigh described her resignation as an “enforced dismissal” that had been designed to “traduce” her reputation.

However, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said Ms Martin would not address the Dáil but would instead be willing to engage with an Oireachtas committee following the publication of the Government’s independent expert reports into RTÉ later this month.

He said: “That can be done in a matter of the next few weeks, and I hope that we can move on from this.” 

Meanwhile, Fine Gael's Brendan Griffin, who is a member of the Media Committee “lambasted” the Minister during a private meeting of parliamentary party last night.

Mr Griffin told the Taoiseach that he was appalled that the chair of the board had been effectively dismissed live on air.

He said that Ms Martin's actions have reflected badly on the Government as a whole and and he "doesn't like" being associated with her actions.

Seperately, Tánaiste Micheál Martin said that the Government should not take an overly interventionist approach to dealing with RTÉ.

The Tánaiste defended Ms Catherine Martin for how she has dealt with the crisis, saying she was “very open and transparent” in explaining that the relationship with the former RTÉ board chair, Siún Ní Raghallaigh, broke down.

Mr Martin said that it was important that ministers “measure” their interventions with RTÉ, due to past accusations of overly interfering with the broadcaster.

“Very often, Governments were accused of overly interfering with RTÉ, which then could have implications in terms of the editorial independence of RTÉ,” Mr Martin said.