RTÉ’s highest-paid presenter Ryan Tubridy is to appear before the two Oireachtas committees today, in what may decide his return to the airwaves.
His agent Noel Kelly will also appear, along with their solicitor who has told the committees that they will clarify a number of matters and provide “important information”.
The hotly anticipated committee appearance comes after weeks of bruising revelations at the public service broadcaster.
Scrutiny of governance and financial affairs at RTÉ began after it admitted that fees paid to Mr Tubridy had been underdeclared by €345,000 over the period 2017 to 2022.
RTÉ executives subsequently explained that the sponsor of the Late Late Show, Renault, paid Mr Tubridy €75,000 in 2020 under a tripartite deal.
Two €75,000 payments made to him for the years 2021 and 2022 were made by RTÉ as it had underwritten the amounts due to Mr Tubridy – in what Oireachtas members were told was a verbal agreement made on a Microsoft Teams meeting in May 2020.
Grant Thornton is probing the amounts that RTÉ said led to Mr Tubridy’s fees from 2017-2019 being underdeclared; this report is expected to be completed in the coming weeks.
On his first day as RTÉ director general, Kevin Bakhurst told reporters that whether Mr Tubridy would return to the airwaves remained undecided.
Mr Bakhurst also suggested his fate could be determined by what emerges at the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and Media Committee hearings – calling for “maximum transparency” from both Mr Tubridy and Mr Kelly.
Mr Tubridy has not presented his weekday morning radio programme since the issues at RTÉ came to light on June 22nd.
He has apologised “unreservedly” for not asking questions when RTÉ published incorrect figures for his earnings, and said he was looking forward to returning to his radio show.
He also denied that the undeclared payments issue formed part of his decision to step down as Late Late Show host.
Mr Kelly – who represents several high-profile RTÉ presenters, as well as former Late Late Show host and Newstalk presenter Pat Kenny – will also be answering questions on Tuesday.
Mr Bakhurst said on Monday that on-air RTÉ staff using agents to represent them was under “close consideration”, while Tánaiste Micheál Martin has expressed concern about the predominance of the “culture of the agent” at RTÉ.
“I think it’s really important we see what comes out in the committees,” Mr Bakhurst told reporters on Monday.
“I want to see maximum transparency from Ryan and his agent in that committee, and I want to see maximum transparency from RTÉ and we’ll be putting more documents out to ensure that happens.
“And I want honesty and I want transparency and then we’ll make a judgment.”
When asked whether legal action was being threatened over Mr Tubridy’s treatment in recent weeks, Mr Bakhurst said “no”.
Mr Tubridy and Mr Kelly will appear before the PAC at 11am, while the Media committee hearing begins at 3pm.
These will mark the fourth and fifth committee appearances on the RTÉ controversy in three weeks, with two more hearings due to take place later in the week.
Mr Bakhurst is due to appear before the PAC on Thursday, his fourth day as director general, alongside RTÉ executives.
By Gráinne Ní Aodha, PA
Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website Beat102103.com.
