THE BOARD OF RTÉ has been given the second Grant Thornton report, which looked at the understatement of Ryan Tubridy’s published fees by €120,000 from 2017 to 2019.

The national broadcaster has been engulfed in controversy since the first external audit, which found that RTÉ had underdeclared Tubridy’s earnings by a total of €345,000 from 2017 to 2022.

Additionally, RTÉ had agreed to underwrite three €75,000 payments, which effectively resulted in the publicly funded body covering the costs of unfulfilled appearances Tubridy had signed on to do.

RTÉ’s board said in a statement today: “The second Grant Thornton Report has been furnished and will now be the subject of detailed consideration by both the Audit and Risk Committee of the RTÉ Board and the broader Board itself.

“This process is ongoing.”

It is not yet clear when the report will be published.

The Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that questioned Tubridy and others last month about the payments may reconvene before the Dáil returns this autumn if witnesses pertaining to the scandal become available.  

The plan is to use the summer recess to assess the documentation, however, if witnesses who have been invited but have yet to appear before the PAC become available, the committee will reconvene,  said the committee’s chair Brian Stanley. 

Former director-general Dee Forbes and former head of content Jim Jennings have yet to appear before any Oireachtas committees.

Forbes has since left the organisation and Jennings was on sick leave at the time of the last committee sittings.

Additional reporting by Christina Finn