Media committee to grill RTÉ executives over undeclared barter accounts

RTÉ board members and executives leave the Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media at Leinster House, Dublin, on the controversy around Ryan Tubridy's misreported salary payments. 

RTÉ has been rocked by revelations of previously undeclared barter accounts which management explicitly denied the existence of only last week.

Details of a €1.25m "slush fund" for client hospitality and sports events had already shocked politicians.

During the period 2012 to 2022, RTÉ spent an average of approximately €150,000 each year on client entertainment or hospitality, which was paid for through those barter accounts.

The existence of additional accounts — flatly denied by RTÉ chief financial officer Richard Collins at the Dáil Public Accounts Committee last week — raises further questions for the embattled State broadcaster, representatives of which are due to face a grilling from politicians on Wednesday afternoon.

Ahead of another appearance before the Oireachtas media committee, RTÉ last night released a tranche of documents relating to secret payments to Ryan Tubridy as well as a list of high-earning staff. That list shows that the 100 best-paid people in the organisation still make at least €117,000 a year.

Questioned on the existence of more barter accounts, a spokesperson for RTÉ said the broadcaster will "provide comment and context around these accounts at the joint Oireachtas committee meeting" which begins at 1.30pm on Wednesday.

In a document sent to the Oireachtas, RTÉ said the use of barter accounts is commonplace in the advertising industry and "is entirely legitimate. Moreover, this model is commonly used by competitors and is standard industry-wide".

"They are used by RTÉ solely in the context of its commercial activity of selling advertising airtime."

Members of the board and executive, along with former CFO Breda O'Keeffe, will attend the station's third grilling by politicians in seven days. However, former director general Noel Curran has declined an invitation.

Former director general of RTÉ Noel Curran arrives at Leinister House in 2012. Picture: Laura Hutton/RollingNews.ie

Ms O'Keeffe is seen to have had a central role in the formulation of the contract for former Late Late Show host Ryan Tubridy.

Ahead of the hearing, committee members had demanded a suite of documents around what the €1.25m barter account was used for, salary details of high earners, and further details of Mr Tubridy's deal. They only received them late last night.

The names of the company's top 100 earners have been redacted, but is made up of 84 employees and 16 contractors. Of those staff, 10 are executives, 59 are management, and 31 are either presenters or non-management staff. It shows that the top executive at RTÉ is paid €275,000 per year. The lowest of the top 100 is a manager on a salary of €117,000.

The documents show:

• Former director general Dee Forbes wrote to Mr Tubridy to not only guarantee his additional pay under a commercial agreement with Renault, but to guarantee RTÉ would never ask him to take a reduction in fees;
• The agreement reached with Renault involved RTÉ footing the bill to recreate a Late Late Show set-up with 100 VIP guests in the audience. The broadcaster would supply finger food and drinks;
• A copy of the agreement between Renault, RTÉ, and Ryan Tubridy said the car company had agreed to "engage the talent from September 29, 2020 - December 31, 2021";
• It said "three dealer events" were required. Three specific dates were provided in 2021 for these events;
• The document stated the "costs of each event covered by RTÉ as part of this agreement to include: set build, event management and catering (finger food and refreshments) for 100 people". "Recreate the Late Late Show setup with minimum three guests and including music from up-and-coming talent from each event location," it added.
• It later suggested that the panel could include "surprise guests from Renault's brand ambassadors. For example, Aslan, Keywest, Ian Dempsey etc".
• The evening events were to include a "6pm drinks reception" and would be "Invitation only: exclusive event for each dealership".

The documents show that Mr Tubridy signed the termination of his previous contract on July 24, 2020, three days after that agreement had been approved on his behalf by Noel Kelly. 

RTÉ chief financial officer Richard Collins flatly denied the existence of additional accounts at the Dáil Public Accounts Committee last week. Picture: Gareth Chaney/ Collins Photos

Patrick Kielty’s contract for The Late Late Show stipulates a payment of €8,333 for each of the 30 episodes in his first season, and the same figure for each subsequent episode, or €250,000 per year basic, excluding VAT.

While most of the documents requested were supplied to the committee at 9pm, a 10-year record of the barter account was not available last night, with RTÉ citing "ongoing financial verification", as was a review of Toy Show The Musical. 

However, RTÉ said these would be provided to the committee "as early as possible" on Wednesday morning.

Explaining barter accounts, RTÉ said: "While traditional advertising campaigns are billed and paid for in full in cash, barter campaigns are billed on 50% in cash and 50% in credit, the credit being accumulated over time. 

"This enables a media company or RTÉ to trade its advertising space in return for goods and services produced by other companies with the media bartering company providing the marketplace for these trades, at a discounted rate."

RTÉ said the use of barter accounts "has proved to be a necessary flexible business practice for the RTÉ commercial sales teams" and "does not impact on licence fee revenue in any way".

A spokesperson for Media Minister Catherine Martin said on Tuesday night: "The minister is aware the board of RTÉ met this evening and notes comments on behalf of the board. She is awaiting an update from the Chair. If there are any further developments of concern, they will be included in the forthcoming external examination initiated by the minister today."

Ms Martin said on Tuesday that she would invoke powers under the Broadcasting Act to appoint a forensic accountant to RTÉ.

The first, she said, will oversee structures and culture at RTÉ. She said that the reviews would lead to a "better RTÉ".

The second will be tasked with examining how RTÉ contractors are engaged.