RTP's Conselho Fiscal, the body responsible for overseeing the public broadcaster's Board of Directors, received a total of 381,000 euros in gross remuneration between 2018 and 2024, according to figures reported by Correio da Manhã. The period matches the one examined in a controversial draft audit report by Portugal's General Inspectorate of Finance, known as the IGF.
The three-member council is tasked with overseeing the acts of RTP's Board of Directors, monitoring budget execution and financial regularity, analyzing and issuing opinions on the company's annual Report and Accounts, and verifying compliance with the laws and statutes that apply to the public broadcaster. Over the six years examined, the team received an average of 54,400 euros per year.
Salaries for the current term
For the 2024-2026 term, the council's pay, distributed 14 times a year, was set at 1,607 euros for its president, José Manuel Fusco Gato, and 1,205 euros each for members Lídia Vasco Antunes and José Carlos Rebelo Simões, according to RTP's Reports and Accounts.
Under RTP's statutes, the Conselho Fiscal is made up of a maximum of three full members, one of whom must be nominated on the proposal of the Direção-Geral do Tesouro e Finanças, the state treasury and finance directorate now known as the Entidade do Tesouro e Finanças. In a formal response sent by RTP's Board of Directors to the IGF, which Correio da Manhã said it had accessed, the broadcaster stated that throughout the entire audited period the council always included two employees of the IGF itself, giving them a majority on the body.
What the IGF audit found
The IGF's preliminary report, drawn up as part of an audit of RTP requested by the Portuguese Parliament's Committee on Budget, Finance and Public Administration, raises questions about the broadcaster's financial and human resources management, particularly regarding subsidies. The document states that granting these payments on a regular and lasting basis, without a legal basis for doing so, could expose company officials to financial liability, since the payments are considered undue.
In its response, RTP said that throughout the audited period the Conselho Fiscal always voted in favor of approving the company's Activities and Budget Plan as well as its management report and accounts. The broadcaster said the council never raised doubts about the legality of the payments in question, either on those occasions or during its monthly review of the company's accounts.
