RTÉ executives face second day of intense questioning over Tubridy payments scandal

RTE board members and executives (left to right) CFO Richard Collins, staff representative to the board Robert Shortt, RTE interim deputy director general Adrian Lynch, RTE Chairperson of the board Siún Ní Raghallaigh, strategy director Rory Coveney , board member Anne O'Leary and RTE commercial director Geraldine O'Leary leave Leinster House. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

RTÉ executives face a second day of intense questioning amid fresh revelations that Dee Forbes' resignation was sought the week before the Ryan Tubridy secret payments scandal was made public.

Pressure is mounting on the chairwoman of the RTÉ board, Siún Ní Raghallaigh, after she revealed that Media Minister Catherine Martin was kept in the dark about the fact Ms Forbes had been asked to quit.

During a four-and-a-half hour grilling, politicians accused the executive board of throwing the now former director general "under a bus", and of trying to distance themselves from the undeclared payments scandal, which saw Mr Tubridy earn an extra €350,000 over five years.

It was also revealed that some senior members of the executive board of RTÉ became aware of accounting issues in "early March", up to two weeks earlier than had previously been indicated, and a number of weeks before Mr Tubridy announced that he would be stepping down from The Late Late Show.

Mr Tubridy is now expected to be off the airwaves for some time as interim director general Adrian Lynch told the media committee that it is "impossible" for him to come back at the moment due to "editorial reasons".

The committee was also told that Mr Tubridy was out of contract with RTÉ after his departure from The Late Late Show, but Mr Lynch later clarified that Mr Tubridy was being paid under the "radio part" of his contract which had been in the process of renegotiation. Talks on the renegotiation have now been suspended.

In the Dáil, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said it is not credible that Ms Forbes was the only person who had full knowledge of the circumstances around the undisclosed earnings of the star presenter, as suggested by a statement from the national broadcaster on Tuesday.

Last night, he told a private Fine Gael meeting that there is a need for "change and accountability" from RTÉ.

Media Minister Catherine Martin: 'Shocking failure of governance' at RTÉ. Picture: Nick Bradshaw/PA Wire

Media Minister Catherine Martin said it is now "vital" that the executive board engages in "as transparent a manner as possible" when they appear before the Public Accounts Committee today.

TDs and senators attending the media committee were left "astonished" by a number of details that emerged as well as differing, or unclear, answers on why payments made to Ryan Tubridy were made through a barter account as "consultancy fees", about the contract status of Ryan Tubridy and Patrick Kielty, and why the RTÉ board accepted the resignation of former director general Dee Forbes.

Ms Martin said there has been "a shocking failure of governance at senior management level in RTÉ" and yesterday's appearances had "not calmed the considerable disquiet about the lack of accountability at RTÉ in the public domain".

The minister, however, did not address the fact that she had not been told that the now-former director general was asked to resign the week before the issue became public.

Former RTÉ director general Dee Forbes. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

Ms Forbes, who handed in her resignation on Monday, had also been asked to attend yesterday's committee meeting, but declined, citing medical grounds.

Her resignation had come four days after RTÉ first announced last Thursday that Mr Tubridy had received additional payments between 2017 and 2022, which had not been officially declared to the public or the Oireachtas.

But Ms Ní Raghallaigh confirmed that she had, in fact, asked Ms Forbes to resign the previous Friday. RTÉ had initially indicated last week that Ms Forbes was on leave, before stating that she had been suspended.

Fine Gael TD Brendan Griffin said it was a "monumental error" to ask the director general to resign, and then accept her resignation, as it had deprived the committee of the opportunity to get her to come face questions.

Explaining the decision to ask her to quit, Ms Ní Raghallaigh explained said: "When the Grant Thornton [auditors] report was delivered to the [RTÉ board's] audit and risk committee, the audit and risk committee made recommendations, and one of those recommendations was to ask for her resignation."

The controversy is expected to rumble on into another week with the chairwoman of the media committee, Fianna Fáil TD Niamh Smith, to ask both Mr Tubridy and his agent Noel Kelly in for questioning.