‘As much as possible’ of a review about undisclosed payments made to Ryan Tubridy will be published (Picture: PA)
RTE 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 RTE headquarters in Donnybrook 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 (£296,653) worth of undisclosed payments made between 2017 and 2022 to Tubridy since it was made public last week.
At the time, in a statement released online, RTÉ said that this was ‘a matter of profound regret for the board of RTÉ’, after it emerged that the former host of The Late Late Show received a series of payments above his annual published salary.
It has prompted the Government to order an external review into governance and culture at the broadcaster, and RTE executives are due before two parliamentary committees this week to answer questions from TDs and senators.
Former RTE boss Dee Forbes, who resigned after being suspended as the scandal emerged, 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.
Former RTE boss Dee Forbes resigned after being suspended as the scandal emerged (Picture: PA)
She said that she led negotiations between senior RTE executives with Tubridy’s agent, and that the final deal aimed to deliver savings for RTE and that she did not ‘act contrary to any advice’ at any stage.
Forbes resigned as director general of RTE on Monday, while Tubridy is not presenting his weekday morning radio show this week.
The RTE 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.
Tubridy presented The Late Late Show and The Late Late Toy Show from 2009 to 2023 (Picture: Phillip Massey/WireImage)
The Grant Thornton review into the 2020-2022 payments was commissioned by the Audit and Risk Committee of the RTE Board after anomalies were noticed. It was received by the Board last Monday.
Later this week, members of the RTE 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.
Tubridy presented The Late Late Show and The Late Late Toy Show from 2009 to 2023, and currently hosts The Ryan Tubridy Show on RTÉ Radio 1.
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Tubridy is not presenting his weekday morning radio show this week.