RTÉ to consider understatement of Tubridy fees after receiving second report

By Gráinne Ní Aodha, PA

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

RTÉ has been the subject of controversy since announcing that it had under declared Tubridy’s earnings by €345,000 from the years 2017 to 2022.

Of that amount, €225,000 relates to three €75,000 annual payments received by Tubridy for proposed public appearances for Renault, as part of a tripartite agreement involving the sponsor, RTÉ and the presenter.

The most controversial aspect of the deal was RTÉ’s decision to underwrite the payments, which effectively resulted in the publicly funded broadcaster stumping up to cover the costs.

In year one, this was done by issuing a €75,000 credit note to Renault in exchange for the motoring company paying Tubridy and, in years two and three, when Renault were no longer involved, by paying Tubridy from its own funds using a UK-based commercial barter account.

The other €120,000 of undeclared payments involved in the controversy relate to Tubridy’s salary across the years 2017-19.

During an extraordinary appearance before a parliamentary committee, Tubridy said that a 120,000 euro payment due at the end of his 2015-2019 contract had been waived by him.

He said that RTÉ had suggested that it should be accounted for by retrospectively under-reporting his salary across several years, which he said he had objected to.

Auditors from Grant Thornton had examined several issues surrounding the debacle, including the €120,000 understatement of Tubridy’s fees.

The RTÉ board said in a statement to PA: “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.”