THE PUBLIC ACCOUNTS Committee is set to invite all members of the RTÉ executive board to answer questions in relation to the ongoing controversy surrounding undisclosed payments to Ryan Tubridy.
The controversy arose after it was revealed on Thursday of last week that Tubridy, RTÉ’s highest paid star, earned an extra €345,000 over the course of over six years than RTÉ had previously disclosed.
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 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 apologised on Friday for ‘not questioning’ the published figures.
The Journal understands that the committee will coordinate with the Committee on Parliamentary Privileges and Oversight to seek an extension of its remit, which would allow it to compel witnesses to appear should it be required.
The remit of the Public Accounts Committee is limited to the accounts that are audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General, which does not include RTÉ.
However, the extension of its remit would allow the committee to examine the issues surrounding the accounts of RTÉ.
It’s understood that the motion to extend the remit will come before the Dáil on Wednesday.
Former RTÉ director generals Noel Curran and Dee Forbes will also be invited to attend the committee, as well as RTÉ’s chief financial officer, head of commercial, head of audit risk and head of legal, and the Secretary General of the Department of Media.
The Journal understands that the committee has yet to decide on whether to invite Ryan Tubridy or not, as it felt it was important to hear from RTÉ first. However, it has not ruled out inviting Tubridy.
It’s understood that TD’s attending this afternoon’s private committee meeting were “not surprised” by Forbes’ resignation this morning.
They feel that they will not allow any particular resignation to hold them back, because they believe the committee has the power of compellability “regardless of whether somebody is in post or not”.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Drivetime this afternoon, Social Democrats TD and vice chair of the Public Accounts Committee, Catherine Murphy, said the committee wants to ensure that those in the relevant positions in RTÉ prior to 2020 are invited to attend.
“We want to deal with the entirety of the €345,000, not just the amounts that have been in the news over the weekend in relation to the barter account,” she said.
“We’re just trying to cover the periods and I think it would be wholly unsatisfactory if we only ended up being able to deal with the amounts that related to the commercial agreement in relation to Renault, but we need to go beyond that and cover the totality of it.”
Murphy said that “every member” of the committee want Forbes to attend.
“We think that she’s the person in the position to give us – certainly in relation to the most recent amounts – the fullest outline of what occurred and who knew what,” she continued.
Fine Gael TD Alan Dillon, who is also a member of the Public Accounts Commit, also stressed the importance of Forbes attending the meeting on Thursday.
“I hope she reflects today and tomorrow and morally volunteers to attend the committee. Her non-attendance would be detrimental to the reputation of RTÉ,” he told the same programme.
“But we’re four days on and there’s still no RTÉ explanation whatsoever for why the public, the Oireachtas and the Government were repeatedly misled for years about Tubridy’s pay, and that certainly leaves a dark shadow.
“We still need to see individual accountability on this matter. I said today, anyone refusing to attend the Oireachtas committee hearings this week, discussing really critical issues around corporate governance at RTÉ, will be judged harshly by the public.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say