Varadkar: Tubridy and his agent appearing at committees is ‘right decision’

By Cillian Sherlock, PA

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said RTÉ star presenter Ryan Tubridy and his agent Noel Kelly have made the right decision to appear at two key Oireachtas committees on Tuesday.

The men have been at the centre of a crisis at the national broadcaster since it was revealed last month that RTÉ had under-reported the salary paid to Mr Tubridy and failed to disclose €345,000 of additional payments to him between 2017 and 2022.

They are to appear before the Public Accounts Committee and the Media Committee on Tuesday.

A solicitor representing the men wrote to both committees indicating a desire to clarify a number of matters and provide “important information”.

Speaking to reporters, Mr Varadkar said it was “good” that Mr Tubridy and Mr Kelly would appear as part of the probes into the payments and governance scandal at RTÉ.

“They have a story to tell and I think it is important for people to hear their side of the story.

“It will shed more light on this.”

Asked if he was concerned about the tone of questioning during the hearings, given that the Supreme Court had previously ruled against the Public Accounts Committee over its treatment of another witness, Mr Varadkar said: “Nobody wants a repeat of that.

“Because, aside from the hurt that does to those individuals if they’re mistreated before a committee, there’s also a potential liability for the taxpayer and a lot of this is about the misuse or inappropriate use of taxpayers’ money and it would be very unfortunate if we ended up causing it to happen again.”

He agreed that politicians need to be “careful” in what they say and do.

However, he said: “From what I’ve seen, by and large, politicians from all parties have behaved appropriately and competently.”

Mr Varadkar also noted that the public had previously voted not to amend the constitution to allow the Houses of the Oireachtas to pursue inquiries into any person and make findings on their conduct.

He said he had supported that amendment but added that “on mature reflection” the public had made the right decision.