LAST UPDATE | 16 Aug 2023
A SECOND REPORT into Ryan Tubridy’s pay has been published and confirms that the presenter’s salary was under-reported by RTÉ by €120,000 between 2017 and 2019.
The report, conducted by Grant Thornton, found it is “very plausible” that Tubridy’s salary was publicly understated in order to allow for “revised earnings” to show a figure below €500,000 in each year.
It also found that the RTÉ board were correct to restate Tubridy’s earning and makes clear that neither Tubridy, nor his agent NK Management, had any involvement in RTÉ’s decision to understate his pay for the three-year period.
The report confirmed details, previously disclosed in documents provided to the Public Accounts Committee, which stated that Tubridy earned:
Additionally, the report confirms that a bonus of €120,000, which Tubridy was due to receive at the end of his 2015 to 2020 contract, was not paid because the presenter waived the payment, as he claimed to the PAC.
However, it said that while his earnings were publicly understated, there was no impact on RTÉ’s financial statements as a result of these adjustments.
Meanwhile, the report highlighted poor governance at the broadcaster, including significant deficiencies in internal management controls, failures in the finance function, and a lack of communication from the RTÉ Executive to the RTÉ Board.
Paul Jacobs, who conducted the review, said in his summary: ”In performing my review of emails and documents in relation to the negation of Mr Tubridy’s 2020 [contract] agreement, I confirm that Mr Tubridy was not identified as a sender or recipient in any of the emails I reviewed, nor was he identified as an attendee at any of the meetings between RTÉ and NK Management (being Mr Tubridy’s Agent).
“In short, Mr Tubridy had no involvement in the adjustments made by RTÉ in 2020 to published earnings totaling €120,000 for 2017 to 2019.
“As a matter of fact, the 2020 adjustments [to Tubridy's stated pay by RTÉ] caused the published earnings figures for Mr Tubridy in each year 2017, 2018 and 2019 to change an amount below €500,000 from an amount above €500,000, and it was these lower amounts which were then published by RTÉ in 2021 for these years.”
Jacobs said he did not find any spreadsheets or workings to provide a specific calculation that supports each of the adjustments made during the period, but confirmed that there was “no financial benefit made or gain to RTÉ or Mr Tubridy” from doing so.
In his executive summary, Jacobs noted “several failures” which he suggested “significantly contributed” to the national broadcaster publishing incorrect earnings for Tubridy for 2017 to 2020.
These included the failure of “key individuals in the RTÉ Finance team” to properly detect, assess and understand changes made in the marked-up version of Tubridy’s new contact, and a draft side letter, which were provided to them by NK Management.
The side letter was previously provided to the Public Accounts Committee and showed how, during the presenter’s contract negotiations in 2020, the broadcaster suggested under-stating his earnings from 2017 to 2020.
The letter outlined how RTÉ proposed to make up for the previous understatements: by offsetting €20,000 against his payments for 2017 (‘Year 3′ of his previous contract), and €50,000 against his payments for both 2018 (‘Year 4′) and 2019 (‘Year 5′):
Added together, the discrepancies between RTÉ’s stated pay for Tubridy and his actual pay for each of those years were worth €120,000.
The Grant Thornton report report also confirmed that Noel Kelly’s Agency, NK Management, which represents Tubridy, returned an edited version of that letter to RTÉ on 20 March 2020.
The revelation was previously made ahead of a Public Accounts Committee hearing last month, when Kelly said how he disagreed with RTÉ’s proposal to offset the payments. He provided the edited version of the letter to the committee to prove this.
The edited email redacted, in red, the broadcaster’s proposal to cut Tubridy’s stated pay for the three years from 2017 to 2019:
In its original email, the broadcaster had referred to the proposal to cut Tubridy’s stated pay as an “offset”.
Jacobs said in his report: “NK Management has confirmed that the ‘set off’ or ‘offset’ wording, that had been presented to them by RTÉ, [...] was rejected by [Kelly and Tubridy] and this position was ultimately accepted by RTÉ in the final signed version of the Agreement / Side Letter.”
He also said that the finance team in RTÉ “had the opportunity to identify and raise a flag” that the final version of the agreement did not match with the draft.
Additionally, Jacobs said the finance team did not identify that their proposed accounting, to adjust Tubridy’s salary between 2017 and 2019, was no longer appropriate.
The report also said that a telephone call between RTÉ and Deloitte on 6 April 2020 discussed the latest draft containing the redactions by NK management.
Jacobs said that while he was told the discrepancy was noted during this call, he had “reached a different conclusion” in light of the information available to him.
Three reports from Deloitte, shown in the report, were provided to RTÉ Finance but “do not appear to have been subsequently provided to the Board of RTE or the Audit and Risk Committee”, according to Jacobs.
According to the report, the three Deloitte reports recorded the understatements and subsequent offset arrangements.
Jacobs said that in his opinion, these factors were “not reflective of good corporate governance in place” at the time.
The Chair of RTÉ, Siún Ní Raghallaigh, stated: “Regrettably this Report confirms our view of the siloed management culture that has prevailed in RTÉ and supports the decision by the Board to initiate an ongoing programme of corrective action.
The Report paints a picture of poor internal communication and weak processes.”
Ní Raghallaigh said it was “clear” that the executive board “did not engage with the board on these matters” from the report and that relevant information was not provided to the Board by the Executive or by the auditors.
“We will be taking on board the issues raised by the Report and will be engaging with RTÉ’s auditors, Deloitte, to discuss the contents of same,” Ní Raghallaigh added.
The chair of the national broadcaster added that, along with RTÉ Director General Kevin Backhust, steps have been taken to ensure there can be no repeat of these failures and both parties remain “committed to an ongoing programme of reform”.
RTÉ publishes the annual salaries of its top earners every year, though only discloses earnings from two years previously – for example, the most recent earnings published in March of this year cover 2021.
When the scandal first broke in late June, it emerged that RTÉ had released incorrect figures in 2021 on Tubridy’s salary from 2017 to 2019.
The broadcaster said that the total value of these undisclosed payments was €120,000.
The national broadcaster has been engulfed in controversy since it emerged that the presenter’s salary was significantly higher than what RTÉ said he was being paid.
Minister for Media Catherine Martin welcomed the report in a statement this afternoon, saying that it “highlights further lapses in governance and failure of proper internal controls and processes within RTÉ”.
Martin described the lapses as “deeply concerning”.
Martin said: “I have spoken to the Chair and stressed the need for RTÉ to act with urgency to address these lapses and ensure that robust processes are put in place without delay. This is essential to restore the trust and confidence which is expected of a public service broadcaster.
It is also of key importance that RTÉ co-operates fully with the Oireachtas Committees which have been examining these matters,” she added.
The report will now be sent to the Expert Advisory Committee on Governance and Culture so they can consider its findings as part of their examination of the wider governance structures and culture within RTÉ, the minister said.
The executive of the RTÉ Trade Union Group (TUG) has said the report “gives rise to a number of questions about corporate governance failures” as well as the role of auditor Deloitte.
The TUG said there were also questions about how the national broadcaster engaged with its own workers, trade unions and the board.
A spokesman said: “Trust is the cornerstone of good governance. It is also at the heart of the relationship between management and unions.
“We hope that the reviews on corporate governance and HR established by the government will provide the framework for dealing with the fundamental issues in the report.
“The trust that was shattered will not be easy to rebuild and trade unions will judge RTÉ by the actions and attitude of the management and board of RTÉ from today.”
Seamus Dooley, the Irish secretary of the National Union of Journalists, told RTÉ’s News At One radio programme that his “worst suspicions” had been confirmed by the report.
“I think this is an arrow through the heart of the relationship between management and staff.”
He said there had been a “deliberate attempt to conceal the truth”.
Dooley said: “I walked the short journey across the campus here and people are in a state of complete anger.”
The weeks following the scandal saw a significant drop in TV licence fee revenue. Reports suggest there was a €900,000 drop in revenue in the first week of August compared with 2022.
Speaking on RTÉ’s News at One, Ní Rallaghaigh reiterated the broadcaster’s position that the tv licence model was “broken”.
But she denied RTÉ was facing insolvency over the fall in licence revenue.
She said she accepted that discussions on a future funding model for RTÉ were on pause, but said the broadcaster needed “interim funding” to continue until a new model could be finalised.
Additional Reporting from Stephen McDermott, Emer Moreau and Press Association
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