Politicians call for answers about RTÉ's undisclosed payments to Ryan Tubridy 

Media Minister Catherine Martin and officials from her department will meet RTÉ board chairwoman  Siún Ní Raghallaigh on Monday. File picture: Niall Carson/PA

Politicians have hit out at RTÉ's secret payments made to Ryan Tubridy at a time when the broadcaster was pleading for more money while seeking pay cuts for staff.

There have also been calls for outgoing RTÉ director general Dee Forbes to make a statement on the controversy.

Media Minister Catherine Martin has said she was made aware that an issue had “come to light” in the course of an audit of RTÉ’s 2022 accounts back in March this year.

Ms Martin said she and officials from her department will hold a meeting with the Chair of the RTÉ board, Siún Ní Raghallaigh, on Monday.

“I have asked the Chair to set out in that meeting, in detail, the issues involved, the steps the Board is taking to deal with the matter, the follow-on action that will be required, and the timeline for these actions,” she said in a statement.

A spokesperson said the minister was not aware that the issue related to payments to a presenter. In March, Ms Martin was advised that a fact-finding exercise had been commissioned in response to a payment queried by the auditors and that the board would consider the findings of the review when complete. The review was considered by the board on Monday and today’s statement by RTÉ sets out the board’s response.

Then RTÉ director general Dee Forbes and Ryan Tubridy at a 2022 photocall. Senator Malcolm Byrne has called on Ms Forbes to make a statement on the controversy. File picture: Colin Keegan/Collins

Tánaiste Micheál Martin said the revelations relating to the hidden payments to Tubridy are “very serious” and “very concerning.” 

He said: “Transparency is essential in matters of this kind particularly in terms of RTÉ’s corporate government and presenting its accounts to the Oireachtas and to the public."

Top RTÉ bosses are also facing calls to come before two Oireachtas committees to address the controversy surrounding payments made to the former Late Late Show host.

TDs sitting on the public accounts committee (PAC) and the communications committee want to question the national broadcaster over the controversy. It’s understood an invitation to Grant Thorton will also be issued.

Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy, who is vice chair of the PAC, said the “covert nature of the payments” to Mr Tubridy raises “serious questions that demand urgent answers”.

“[The] bombshell revelations involve a breach of trust from an organisation that has repeatedly put on the poor mouth about its dire financial situation when seeking an increase in the television licence fee.

It should also be noted that these secret payments to one of its stars were made at a time when ordinary workers at RTÉ were being subjected to pay cuts, pay freezes, and redundancies.

Fianna Fáil Senator Malcolm Byrne has called on the outgoing director general of RTÉ to make a statement on the controversy.

He said that if Ms Forbes was not aware of the matter, it raises “serious questions for how RTÉ is managed."

RTÉ board chairwoman  Siún Ní Raghallaigh. File picture: Bryan Brophy/1Image

Chair of PAC and Sinn Féin TD Brian Stanley said: “Just last year, RTÉ was forced to make a settlement of €1.2m to Revenue for unpaid employee PRSI and the broadcaster is now under investigation by the Department of Social Protection for the misclassification and bogus-self employment of over 100 employees.

“Today’s revelations of hidden and undisclosed payments are just yet another example of the poor levels of transparency and questionable culture that has dominated RTÉ for too long, and this needs to change."

Labour media spokesperson Senator Marie Sherlock said the details are “beggar belief". 

“The apparent mis-accounting of certain payments for service appears to have taken place at a time when RTÉ management were seeking significant pay cuts to salaries and allowances from RTÉ employees. 

These are very serious breaches of trust with the employees of the national broadcaster.

“Furthermore, there are many questions about how this issue has only come to light now. Each year RTÉ publishes the pay of its highest-paid presenters and indeed has made a virtue of pay reductions of its highest-paid. 

"Why the discrepancies were not apparent to RTÉ management then reflect shockingly poor internal systems.”