LAST UPDATE | 27 Jun 2023
RTÉ’S STATEMENT EXPLAINING how “secret payments” made to Ryan Tubridy were agreed has revealed that the broadcaster also footed the bill for hosting commercial events for the sponsor involved in the agreement, Renault.
RTÉ stated that it paid, via the UK Barter account used to make previously undisclosed payments to Tubridy, “for the costs of hosting the commercial sponsor events in 2022″.
“The actual cost of the events was €30,586. These payments were recorded in the barter account at a value of €47,477,” the statement issued by Adrian Lynch, the Interim Deputy Director-General, stated.
Lynch outlined that there were, in effect, two contracts involved in the negotiations that were examined in the Grant Thornton review. These were the ‘Five year contract’ between RTÉ and the presenter, and the ‘Tri-partite Agreement’, which was between the presenter, the commercial sponsor, and RTÉ.
The Journal has asked RTÉ why it footed the bill for the commercial sponsor’s events. In the Grant Thornton review, also released today, the author finds that the terms and conditions of the commercial relationship contained in Ryan Tubridy’s five-year contract included a clause that there would be a “maximum of three events per annum… which have to be in association with RTÉ”.
The controversy arose after it was revealed on Thursday of last week that RTÉ’s highest paid star Ryan Tubridy earned an extra €345,000 over the course of over six years than RTÉ had not previously disclosed.
Tubridy’s annual earnings published by RTÉ between the years 2017-2022 ranged from €440,000-€491,667 but a review carried out by Grant Thornton found that his annual earnings from RTÉ in those years actually ranged from €511,667-€545,000.
The issue was partly the result of a deal which saw Tubridy receive additional income from commercial partner Renault, with that income guaranteed and underwritten by RTÉ.
The manner in which these payments were recorded led to an understatement of his earnings, with RTÉ apologising for the mistake.
Tubridy himself apologised on Friday for ‘not questioning’ the published figures.
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