An independent review into RTÉ’s failed €3.6 million IT project has revealed deep flaws in project planning, governance, and execution, highlighting the national broadcaster’s lack of experience in managing large-scale enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.
The review, conducted by consulting firm EY and presented to RTÉ’s Audit and Risk Committee in April 2023, was made public following a Freedom of Information request by RTÉ’s This Week programme. It relates to the write-down of an ERP system designed to replace outdated finance and HR platforms, which was funded through a 2017 land sale.
While the project succeeded in upgrading RTÉ’s finance system, it failed to deliver the planned HR system overhaul. As a result, impairments of nearly €3 million were reported in RTÉ’s 2020 and 2021 accounts.
EY’s “lessons learnt” report identified critical failings across ten core areas, including governance, vendor management, and project oversight. It concluded that RTÉ lacked the necessary experience for a project of such scale and complexity and had taken a risky “big bang” approach to implementing both finance and HR systems simultaneously.
The report noted that key decisions were made without thorough consideration of the project’s complexity or risks. It found that RTÉ’s original business case did not justify the push for an integrated HR-finance solution and failed to examine simpler, standalone alternatives.
EY also raised concerns about the lack of a single project owner and weak oversight by the steering committee, which, according to the review, “did not consistently exercise its authority” even as deadlines were repeatedly missed. The selection of vendors was also called into question, with some having limited experience in HR systems. A performance management framework was notably absent, and key milestones were regularly missed without consequences.
“Quality was not managed carefully nor reported correctly,” EY told the Audit and Risk Committee, adding that the communication of problems was “substandard.”
Minutes from RTÉ board meetings referenced concerns over vendor selection, skills shortages, and poor decision tracking. Former CFO Richard Collins also briefed the board on the partial transition to the new system.
In its response to This Week, RTÉ said the EY report focused on identifying causes behind the project’s non-delivery, rather than reviewing financial figures. The broadcaster added that reforms introduced over the past 18 months are designed to prevent similar failures in future capital projects, and that the recommendations from the EY report have been incorporated into its new project management processes.
