RTÉ IS TO publish “as much as possible” of an external review into undisclosed payments made to star presenter Ryan Tubridy over the past three years.
It comes as a staff protest is due to be held at RTÉ headquarters in Donnybrook at lunchtime in response to growing anger and a call for answers amid the spiralling controversy at the public service broadcaster.
Questions have intensified around the €345,000 worth of undisclosed payments made between 2017 and 2022 to Tubridy since it was made public last week.
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 has 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 has apologised for ‘not questioning’ the published figures but said doing so was RTÉ’s responsibility.
It has prompted the Government to order an external review into governance and culture at the broadcaster, and RTÉ executives are due before two parliamentary committees this week to answer questions from TDs and senators.
Former RTÉ boss Dee Forbes has said that the payments made in 2020-2022 were a result of honouring contractual obligations after the pandemic hit, but was unaware of other payments made between 2017-2019.
She said that she led negotiations between senior RTÉ executives with Tubridy’s agent. She said the final deal aimed to deliver savings for RTÉ and that she did not “act contrary to any advice” at any stage.
Forbes resigned as director general of RTÉ yesterday; Tubridy is not presenting his weekday morning radio show this week.
The RTÉ Board said on Monday it was mindful that the public, staff and politicians want accountability, and said it was “very mindful” of the need to provide clarity.
It said that a “comprehensive” statement would be issued on Tuesday afternoon “setting out its understanding of the circumstances” around payments made to Tubridy in the 2020-2022 period.
It also committed to publishing “as much as possible” of the Grant Thornton review into those payments, but said that the payments made from 2017-2019 are still being reviewed by the advisory company and so will not be included.
The Grant Thornton review into the 2020-2022 payments was commissioned by the Audit and Risk Committee of the RTÉ Board after anomalies were noticed.
It was received by the Board last Monday.
Later this week, members of the RTÉ board and executive are due to attend the Media committee and the Public Accounts committee to answer questions. It is unclear who exactly will attend, including whether Forbes will be present.
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