Grant Thornton report expected to back Ryan Tubridy over €120k loyalty bonus

Screenshot taken from Oireachtas TV of RTE's star presenter Ryan Tubridy and his agent Noel Kelly being questioned at the Joint Committee of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media in July. Photo: Oireachtas Tv

A Grant Thornton report into payments to RTÉ presenter Ryan Tubridy will back his claim that he waived a €120,000 loyalty bonus to which he was entitled at the end of his contract.

The presenter told an Oireachtas Committee hearing in July that he waived his entitlement to the payment but because of how RTÉ reported that decision in its accounts, the narrative became that he had taken the money and hidden it, which he said was not true.

RTÉ's Chief Financial Officer Richard Collins said that "for an unexplained reason that €120,000 was credited against his earnings between 2017 and 2019. That's under investigation at the moment".

The Grant Thornton report, which is expected to be published in the coming days, will back Ryan Tubridy's claim.

It comes as RTÉ has seen another plummet in TV licence fee sales of around €1m as the national broadcaster continues to suffer the fallout from the payments scandal.

Today, Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe said the most important response back to the concern of people who are not paying their TV licence fee is for RTÉ to “bring transparency” to the issues that “have been at the heart of public concern".

A spokesperson for Media Minister Catherine Martin has said TV licence sales for the second week of August were 7,166 compared to 12,610 for the corresponding week in 2022.

This is a fall off of around €1m.

This is in addition to a drop off in sales of €3.7m for the first week of August and the month of July since the payments scandal surrounding Ryan Tubridy emerged.

Sources were expecting a Grant Thornton report into the understatement of the presenter earnings by €120,000 between 2017 and 2019 to be published on Wednesday.

Mr Donohoe said he has an understanding as to why some people are not paying the licence fee after the public controversy but has called on people to pay it.

“The most important response back to the concern that many do have, which has impacted on television licence payment levels, is to bring transparency to the issues that have been at the heart of public concern in recent months," he said.

The drop in revenue is in addition to a drop off in sales of €3.7m for the first week of August and the month of July since the payments scandal surrounding Ryan Tubridy emerged.

“I still ask that they do pay and ultimately the taxpayer has to respond back to this. The taxpayer and the TV licence payer, in many, many cases, are the same person."

Higher Education Minister Simon Harris said August can be seen as a “quiet time in official Ireland” and it “simply cannot be when it comes to the RTÉ situation”. 

He said the Grant Thornton report should be published as soon as possible.

“Obviously, it’s absolutely appropriate that the Board and the Audit and Risk Committee need to consider it. I think it would be in everybody’s interest, including RTÉ, for that to happen as quickly as possible."

Fianna Fáil TD Paul McAuliffe has said that the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has been informed by Parliamentary Legal Affairs that it is “in a strong position” if it chooses to compel witnesses.

The question remains as to whether it will be necessary to compel former Director General Dee Forbes to attend the PAC, he said.

“Do we need to compel them or will the Grant Thornton report provide the answers?” he asked.