RTÉ SPENT €106,000 on the first review by auditors Grant Thornton into the pay controversy that has engulfed the national broadcaster all summer.
The initial Grant Thornton review found that Ryan Tubridy’s salary was under-reported by €120,000 between 2017-2019.
A second review by the auditor, published last week, examined how it came to be that Tubridy’s salary was under-reported.
A third Grant Thornton review is underway into the costs of the Toy Show The Musical Production. The fee charged by Grant Thornton for the second and third reviews is not yet known.
The invoice for the initial report which was released to The Journal through a Freedom of Information request, shows that €106,739 was paid to Grant Thornton, a professional services firm, for services during the period “up to and including 18 June 2023″.
The invoice also states that RTÉ got a discount of 10% on the first Grant Thornton review, which saved it €9,477.
The second Grant Thornton review found that Tubridy and his agent “had no involvement in the adjustments made by RTÉ in 2020 to earnings published totalling €120,000 for 2017 to 2019″.
Tubridy welcomed the publication of the report, and released a statement which said:
“It is also clear that my actual income from RTÉ in 2020 and 2021 matches what was originally published as my earnings for those years and RTÉ has not yet published its top ten earner details for 2022.”
Since the second report was released last week, RTÉ Director General Kevin Bakhurst ended negotiations over a return by Tubridy, who has not worked for the broadcaster since the initial controversy broke in June, to his daily radio show.
After it emerged that Tubridy would not return, Bakhurst was critical of the statement made by the presenter about his pay in 2021 and 2022, citing it as a key reason behind his decision.
The Public Accounts Committee heard last month that Tubridy received a €75,000 payment each year from a UK-based barter account belonging to RTÉ, as part of a commercial deal that had since ended but which was underwritten by the broadcaster.
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