What pay cuts did Ryan Tubridy take, and when?

Ryan Tubridy in Monkstown.

Revelations that Ryan Tubridy was paid an extra €345,000 by RTE since 2017 have dominated news since Thursday.

But the presenter's declared earnings over the years have been the subject of much discussion.

In a statement on Friday on the payments issue, Mr Tubridy referred to "several reductions in salary" he had taken during his career at the State broadcaster, noting a drop of approximately 40% since 2012, when he earned a career-high of €752,950.

However, Mr Tubridy’s pay had increased by 41.1% in the four years leading up to 2012, according to a variety of published sources, including RTÉ.

His pay went from a reported €533,333 in 2008 to €752,950 in 2012.

He began presenting the Late Late Show in 2009 and that year, as RTÉ was cutting the pay of ordinary staff by 6% in the face of a 68% budget shortfall, the broadcaster sought substantial cuts from its top ten presenters.

Mr Tubridy announced that an amendment to his legal affairs “allows me to join my colleagues, who are all facing tough times, by taking a 10% pay cut”.

When Mr Tubridy took the 10% pay cut to which he committed in March 2009, is not immediately obvious.

In 2009 he is recorded as earning €519,667 — a cut of 2.56% on his 2008 pay.

The €645,500 earnings RTÉ declared he earned in 2010 were a 24.2% increase on what the broadcaster said he had been paid in 2009.

Meanwhile, the €723,000 RTÉ said he earned in 2011 was a 12% increase on the previous year.

His career-high earnings of €752,950 in 2012 — the benchmark by which he has referenced his earnings since then — saw an increase of around 4.41% on the previous year.

But this pay dropped 34.2% to €495,000 in 2013.

Since then, the officially declared earnings for Mr Tubridy have risen by just over 4%, going from €495,000 in both 2013 and 2014, to the latest published amount of €515,000, in 2022.

His statement on Friday that referred to pay cuts he said he had endured over the years was issued after RTÉ admitted paying him €345,000 more than what it had stated publicly.

In its detailed statement, RTÉ said the extra money was paid between 2017 and 2022, and was above his annual published salary.

'Transparency issue'

The payments were uncovered after a “transparency” issue about payments made to Mr Tubridy was identified during a routine audit of RTÉ’s 2022 accounts in March.

In one of two statements on the matter, Mr Tubridy said on Friday: “Over the period of my contract with RTÉ, I have been asked to take several reductions in salary and I did.

“Indeed, between 2012 and today, my pay from RTÉ was cut by approximately 40%.”

In 2011, facing the end of his contract the following year in 2012, and two years into presenting the Late Late Show, he was asked if he could justify his pay.

He replied: “It's a fair question because the salary is so high.

“When I took the Late Late Show, this was the culture of salaries being paid at the time.”

He said he expected his new contract in 2013 would reflect the fact that “the culture of those salaries will be changed and will reflect the new reality”.

Mr Tubridy added: “We live in different times, dark times.

“I talk to men and women day in and day out on the radio who are barely trying to put together the price of a shopping bill, a mortgage and a pair of shoes.

“I'm not living in La-La land.

“I hear people getting upset. I'm not stupid. I get it and the salary situation will be addressed in due course.”

Speaking at the 2012 autumn schedule launch the following year, he told reporters: “I'll be taking a pay cut of 30% and beyond."

RTÉ subsequently published information which showed he had indeed taken a pay cut of more than 30% in 2013. And there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing on Mr Tubridy's part. 

In his Friday statement, Mr Tubridy also stated he should have sought answers as to the circumstances which resulted in incorrect figures being published.

'Unreserved' apology

He apologised “unreservedly” for not doing that and he said that he bore responsibility for his “failure” to do so.

However, he then stated: “For the avoidance of doubt, all my earnings from RTÉ have at all times been included in my company’s accounts filed with the Companies Registration Office.

“My filed accounts with details of these earnings have previously been reported on in the media.”

A trawl through media archives show that reporting on details of his pay as they appear in his accounts actually stopped in 2017.

The last set of accounts reported on by the media includes pay information related to 2016.

This is, in part, because Mr Tubridy's company Tuttle Productions Ltd — which he runs with mother Catherine — avail of a financial reporting standard that was introduced in June 2017. 

Mr Tubridy's company is not alone in this - other media stars have done the same.

Under this new FRS 105 standard, companies no longer have to disclose directors’ reports, directors’ remuneration, or salary costs.

With most of the company's accounts before 2017, the company availed of other reporting standards that mean minimal details.

There have been a few exceptions, and these form the basis of the reports to which Mr Tubridy referred.

In 2015, for example, the accounts showed aggregate remuneration of €598,717, which was later reported in the media.

In 2014, while his accounts referenced an aggregate remuneration of €507,467 in the period 12 months to August 31 that year, RTÉ reported that he had earned €495,000 that year. 

It's unclear whether Mr Tubridy's accounts and the RTÉ report referred to different 12-month periods, or whether Mr Tubridy's company accounts showed additional earnings above his RTÉ pay.

Neither Mr Tubridy nor his agent has not responded to a request for comment on this article.