RTÉ HAS said it cannot comment on the appropriateness of broadcaster Pat Kenny having had a free BMW car at his disposal until recently.
BMW confirmed yesterday that it had halted its brand endorsement programme which involved providing cars to celebrities in exchange for promotional work.
A spokeswoman said the company had given two months notice to participants in January that the programme would end.
Kenny had a BMW 730D while fellow broadcaster Gráinne Seoige had a BMW 320 convertible. The BMW spokeswoman said both broadcasters were now in the process of buying their cars from the company. Celebrity gardener Diarmuid Gavin was also involved in the brand endorsement programme as was rugby international Gordon D’Arcy.
Kenny presents a daily current affairs programme on RTÉ Radio 1 as well as The Late Late Showon RTÉ television. He could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Asked if was appropriate for a current affairs broadcaster to have a commercial relationship with a car manufacturer, an RTÉ spokeswoman said Kenny was a freelance contractor, not an RTÉ staff member. “As Pat Kenny, Gráinne Seoige and Diarmuid Gavin are freelance contractors, it is the RTÉ policy not to comment on their personal matters,” she said. “We would consider the matter of transport a personal matter.”
She could not say if other contracted presenters had similar deals with other car manufacturers as it was a personal matter for them. However, an RTÉ source said there was a desire to bring a halt to such arrangements in recent years. He said the station would prefer if presenters did not have commercial associations with car manufacturers.
RTÉ contracts state that contractors should not get involved in matters that bring RTÉ into disrepute but it does not prevent contractors from entering into promotional work arrangements with other companies.
The issue has been a bone of contention for some time. In 2005, Labour’s Tommy Broughan raised questions in the Dáil over RTÉ presenters’ deals with car manufacturers and highlighted Mr Kenny’s arrangement with BMW.
Mr Broughan said the interests of commercial news broadcasters and people involved in broadcasting should be publicly known.
It was also highlighted by the Sunday Independentyesterday when it reported that the brand endorsement programme had been scrapped.
BMW’s budgets have been affected by the global downturn. Last week it was reported that the German luxury car company saw its net profit fall 90 per cent in 2008.
