Ryan Tubridy payments scandal rocks RTÉ - now questions form over former Late Late presenter’s future

There is seething anger among staff at the national broadcaster as it emerged that Tubridy received the payments made over the past six years.

Meanwhile, RTÉ chiefs are facing calls to come before two Oireachtas committees to address the controversy surrounding his remuneration, which was first revealed by the Irish Independent yesterday. It has been described as a “serious breach of trust with the public”.

The former Late Late Show presenter, who said he was “surprised” by the announcements made, will not be presenting his RTÉ Radio 1 show this morning.

When asked if Tubridy will return to air next week, the chair of the RTÉ Board, Siún Ní Raghallaigh, said it was a “matter for the executive”.

Internally, there is huge uproar at RTÉ since a wide-ranging report by Grant Thornton was finalised last Friday and presented to the RTÉ Board on Monday.

The Trade Union Group of RTÉ staff pointed out that the payments were made “at a time when staff were engaged with cost-cutting negotiations with management”. Members of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) at RTÉ will hold an emergency meeting to discuss the issue today.

It is understood the decision to take Tubridy off air was made by the RTÉ executive. They will also be the ones to decide his future at the broadcaster. It is understood that incoming director-general Kevin Bakhurst will be involved in the decision-making process even though he doesn’t officially take up his role for three weeks.

RTÉ confirmed an internal review of the reporting of the remuneration of its 10 most highly paid presenters.

But it is understood that at least some of the other “Top 10” stars were caught totally unawares by the news yesterday. “They learned that their own pay situation was being reviewed through news reports,” a source said.

The broadcaster is already in a period of transition as RTÉ director-general Dee Forbes is not expected to return to the Montrose campus. RTÉ said she was on annual leave ahead of her five-year tenure ending in early July.

Adrian Lynch will take charge for the next three weeks while incoming DG Mr Bakhurst has already been seen at RTÉ headquarters ahead of his role officially starting shortly.

He has a huge challenge facing him as he tries to help the broadcaster get its house in order.

The controversy stems from the revelation that Tubridy was guaranteed by RTÉ an additional annual income of €75,000 in 2020 which was intended to come from a commercial partner. The commercial partner did not renew the agreement for a second year, and since the agreement was guaranteed by RTÉ, the payments were instead made directly by RTÉ to Tubridy’s agent.

The issue was identified first in late March after a routine audit of its accounts, and Media Minister Catherine Martin was made aware of the probe the same month.

Tubridy also announced his intention to step down from The Late Late Show role in March although RTÉ bosses have insisted this was not linked to the pay issue.

Last night Tubridy issued a statement to say that he “can’t shed any light” on those payments made to him by RTÉ.

His management company, NK Management, said they were “matters for which RTÉ has sole responsibility and accountability”.

“There is no issue whatsoever in relation to the payments being properly and lawfully due and there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing on the part of Ryan Tubridy or NK Management,” it said.

Meanwhile there is huge anger among staff working in RTÉ at the pay revelations, many of whom are earning an average industry wage and have expressed concerns about the serious breach of corporate governance.

“People working in RTÉ just can’t fathom how this went undetected for so long. In some instances, payments of over half a million euros were made to Ryan Tubridy for one year’s work,” said one source.

“At the same time, RTÉ management are going with their begging bowl to the Government calling for a reform of the licence fee structure and extra financial supports.

“It brings the whole organisation into disrepute and people are understandably angry.”

An internal email to RTÉ staff issued by Siún Ní Raghallaigh said that the coming days and weeks would be “difficult for us all”.

“On behalf of the board, I wish to apologise for the mistakes that have been made, while reassuring you that once these issues came to light, we acted expeditiously to establish the facts,” she said.

She said RTÉ’s Director of Audience, Channels and Marketing Adrian Lynch has been appointed as deputy director general with new boss Kevin Bakhurst due to take up his role on July 10.

She added that the board and executives at the state broadcaster were “committed to working hard together to ensure these serious errors are not repeated and protecting the important and valued role that RTÉ plays in public life in Ireland.”

Meanwhile, Media Minister Ms Martin said she is “extremely concerned” at details in RTÉ’s statement and had spoken with Ms Ní Raghallaigh. A meeting has been arranged for Monday and she has asked the chair to set out the issues involved and the steps the board is taking to deal with the matter.