Follow Independent.ie for live updates as seven RTÉ officials face media committee
TDs and senators are currently grilling RTÉ board members and executives over the Tubridy extra payments scandal, with one TD saying “Bosco and his magic door are clearly still present” at the broadcaster.
Interim deputy director general Adrian Lynch would not answer when asked whether Tubridy would be back on air at the broadcaster. He said he was currently off air for “editorial reasons”.
Tubridy was not paid an exit fee and the “earnings he received were what he was contractually entitled to”, the RTÉ Board Chair Siún Ní Raghallaigh will also tell the Committee.
“Others knew,” Dail told, as Taoiseach Leo Varadkar dismisses RTE contentions
‘Egregious breach of trust’
She will also apologise for the “egregious breach of trust with the public”.
“The public, RTÉ staff, and public representatives are angry and hurt. We know that our bond of trust with the public is tarnished. We know that trust is precious, and that once lost, trust is difficult to regain. Step by step we will work to rebuild that trust.”
Seven RTÉ officials will face questions from members of the Oireachtas Media Committee.
Current chairperson of the RTÉ Board Siún Ní Raghallaigh and Interim Deputy Director General Adrian Lynch will attend the meeting.
The other five people to appear are CFO Richard Collins, commercial director, Geraldine O’Leary, director of strategy Rory Coveney, Chair of Audit & Risk Committee RTÉ, Anne O’Leary and Member of Audit & Risk Committee and Board staff representative, Robert Shortt.
A number of other board members have been invited although it is not clear if they will attend.
At the opening of the committee session today, chair Niamh Smyth TD said the invite to Dee Forbes and Jim Jennings, who are not attending due to health reasons, stands for when they are able to come in.
‘Breakdown in governance’
“There’s been a complete breakdown in corporate Governance in RTÉ,” said Sinn Féin TD Imelda Munster.
She said “it goes beyond Dee Forbes” and it is “not credible” that only Ms Forbes was fully aware of the payments to Mr Tubridy.
“The public wouldn’t swallow it and neither will we,” she said.
Director of commercial Geraldine O’Leary said she was “not in the room” and “did not construct the deal”.
She said she was advised by the chief financial officer afterwards.
Ms O’Leary said in year three of RTÉ’s deal with a commercial partner, she was advised by Ms Forbes that there was “financial pressure” to meet the contractual obligations.
She said she “cannot remember the precise detail”, when asked about payments being listed as “consultancy fees”.
“How could you forget something like that?” asked Ms Munster.
Ms Munster asked Chief Financial Officer Richard Collins why did he not call out the “concealment” of the payments being listed as “consultancy fees”.
“I wasn’t aware of what they related to,” he said.
“The barter account was under the control of the Commercial division.”
“They came under my radar when raised by the auditors in March 2023.”
“This deal was constructed by a different person,” he said.
Tubridy was due a “loyalty bonus” at the end of his contract of €120,000, Mr Collins told the committee.
He said because of some “unexplained reason” this money was paid between 2017 and 2019. This is now under investigation.
“I didn’t sign off on it,” Mr Collins said.
“Who signed off on it was the DG and the CFO at the time.”
“I hadn’t taken up the CFO role at the time.”
Mr Collins said the €120,000 payment was “never paid, never accrued for in the accounts”.
“But for an unexplained reason, that €120,000 was credited against his earnings in between 2017 and 2019. That’s under investigation at the moment by Grant Thornton,” he said.
“Others knew,” Dail told, as Taoiseach Leo Varadkar dismisses RTE contentions
‘How did one man and his agent become bigger than RTÉ?’
FF Senator Shane Cassells asked how RTÉ allowed “one man and his agent become bigger than RTÉ?”
“Was he worth it?” he said.
Deputy DG Adrian Lynch apologised on behalf of the RTÉ executive board.
“The guarantee and the underwriting of [this deal] is absolutely critical,” he said.
He said on May 7, a guarantee was verbally given, that if the deal fell through, RTÉ would pay Ryan Tubridy.
He said when this actually happened, Mr Tubridy’s earnings should have been declared.
“I had absolutely no awareness of how this deal was operationalised,” said Mr Lynch.
“RTÉ should never underwrite a commercial agreement in relation to a talent,” said Mr Lynch.
This is what led to a “complete breach” of corporate governance, he said.
He said it is not identified in the Grant Thornton review who “initiated the idea” of listing payments under consultancy.
Mr Lynch said Mr Tubridy’s agent was “focused” on getting a guarantee.
“As an agent, he is going to drive the best bargain he can get for his clients.”
Ms Ní Raghallaigh said Dee Forbes was suspended while a “disciplinary procedure was happening”.
A sub committee of the RTÉ Board was set up to deal with this procedure.
Mr Lynch would not answer when asked if Mr Tubridy would be back on air.
“At the moment, obviously, for editorial reasons, it’s impossible for Ryan Tubridy to be back on air,” said Mr Lynch.
When asked if he would be back in the long term, he said: “For editorial reasons, he is not on air at the moment.”
Ms Ní Raghallaigh said the two payments of €75,000 didn’t show up in accounts until 2022 because they were paid in 2022.
FG Senator Micheál Carrigy tells the Committee he is a postmaster and has seen some pushback from customers on paying the TV licence.
He said one customer told him: “Will I Revolut Ryan or Renault?
Resignation
Independent TD Mattie McGrath asks why Dee Forbes’ resignation was accepted when RTÉ knew it was “curtains” for her appearance before Oireachtas committees.
Ms Ní Raghallaigh said Ms Forbes made the resignation public “at the same time I was made aware of it”.
“That’s another disastrous decision. How are we going to get any answers?” said the Independent TD.
He reiterated his call for a Garda investigation.
Chair Niamh Smyth said there are “no allegations of any criminal wrongdoing”.
“Why are we here,” said Mr McGrath.
“Who are you loyal to?” he asked deputy DG Adrian Lynch.
“Our commercial revenue is hugely critical to everything we do at RTE,” Mr O’Leary said.
“We’re also incredibly loyal to all of our customers.”
Labour Senator Marie Sherlock asks if there was any “inkling” of any “unusual transactions” which were happening in 2022.
“These transactions were approved by the director general,” said CFO Richard Collins.
“There’s a role for the executive board now to actually own what the issues are here and discuss it with the board,” said Ms Ní Raghallaigh.
She said there are “jewels in the crown” when speaking about the staff at RTÉ.
“The management of the organisation has to seriously be addressed.”
‘Bosco and his magic door are clearly still present at RTÉ’
“The first time I saw the invoices was in March of this year,” said commercial director Geraldine O’Leary.
She said there “may well have been” a conversation between her and the DG about labelling the invoices as “consultancy fees” but said she does not remember.
She said she knew they related to Tubridy even though his name was not on them.
“That beggars’ belief, to be honest,” said FF TD Christopher O’Sullivan.
“The culture at RTÉ, especially the top brass at RTÉ, it seems rotten,” said Deputy O’Sullivan.
He said his first memories of RTÉ are of Bosco. “Bosco and his magic door are clearly still present at RTÉ.”
He said this culture has to be “stamped out”.
‘A lot of transactions’
FG TD Alan Dillon asks about any other unclassified payments in the barter account.
Mr Collins said there are “a lot of transactions” in the barter account and he has done “an overview” of it but there are a lot of documents to accompany the transactions which will have to be gone through.
“It will be investigated thoroughly,” he said.
Ms O’Leary said she did not know the two payments of €75,000 were “secret” payments.
“I had no idea what the 75 grand represented in terms of his [Tubridy’s] overall earnings,” she said.
Nobody from the executive board answered when asked by Deputy Dillon if they had considered their positions.
Sinn Féin senator Fintan Warfield asked if the salaries of top 100 earners from RTÉ can be published, including top executives. Mr Lynch said this request has been “noted”.
Mr Lynch said he is “pretty confident” that there is no journalist who has a “deal with a car brand” in RTÉ.
More updates to follow…
Apology
Submissions in advance of the meeting reveal that board chair Siún Ní Raghallaigh will today apologise to TDs and Senators on the Media Committee for “simply untrue” information the State broadcaster provided previously to politicians.
Mr Tubridy’s earnings were also correctly accounted for in the RTÉ accounts, Ms Ní Raghallaigh will tell the committee’s politicians in her opening remarks today.
“Mr Tubridy’s earnings were correctly accounted for in the RTÉ accounts, and the earnings he received were what he was contractually entitled to. In addition, for the record, I want to confirm that he did not receive an exit fee.”
The chair will say the “circumstances” which led to the wrong figures being given to the public and Oireachtas in relation to Mr Tubridy’s pay are being examined by Grant Thornton and the findings are due in four weeks.
“Why this figure was understated – and by whom – that is the question we as a Board are also very anxious to know the answer to.”
The chair will also say sorry for wrong information which was given to the committee previously in relation to Mr Tubridy’s pay.
“I am also mindful that this Committee, and others, were in the past presented with information that was simply untrue. That was a breach of trust with you, the elected members of the Oireachtas, for which we sincerely apologise.”
She will also apologise to “each and every one” of the 1,800 workers “for the distress they are experiencing as they deal with the shadow that has fallen over this organisation”.
More updates to follow…