Ryan Tubridy could be back in RTÉ in weeks with salary of under €200k

Negotiations between Ryan Tubridy and RTÉ are believed to be at an advanced stage. Picture: Niall Carson/PA

Ryan Tubridy is in talks to return to RTÉ on a salary of under €200,000 per year after a report into the understating of his pay found that neither he nor his agent had anything to do with the accounting adjustments.

Mr Tubridy, who last year earned €440,000 for his radio and The Late Late Show role, has also volunteered to return the €150,000 in payments he received from the state broadcaster as part of the controversial commercial deal with Renault, which was underwritten by RTÉ. 

The negotiations between the host and the broadcaster are believed to be at an advanced stage and could see Mr Tubridy return to the airwaves in weeks.

The Grant Thornton report into the understatement of Mr Tubridy’s pay found that the former Late Late Show host was unaware of the decision to adjust his earnings to reflect a €120,000 exit fee which he had waived. 

The report, which was published on Wednesday, found that RTÉ had “in the balance of probabilities... made [adjustments] for the years 2017, 2018 and 2019 in order to allow for ‘revised earnings’ below a figure of €500,000 in each year”.

Mr Tubridy said on Wednesday that he wants to “rebuild trust” with listeners after the report was published. He said it was “also clear that my actual income from RTÉ in 2020 and 2021 matches what was originally published”. 

It is believed Mr Tubridy is confident that a section of the Grant Thornton report underscores this claim. The report found there were “no issues” when comparing the figures for those years and the invoices logged in RTÉ’s system.

Committee appearances

However, the report will not end political scrutiny of RTÉ, with at least one more committee appearance looming. Oireachtas media committee chairwoman Niamh Smyth said it would be “helpful” if the full board of RTÉ was to come before TDs and senators to answer questions in the coming week. She said the board had been “blindsided” and “treated with contempt”.

Dáil Public Accounts Committee chairman Brian Stanley said the committee would still like to hear from RTÉ's former director general Dee Forbes, former chief financial officer Breda O’Keeffe, current chief financial officer
Richard Collins, director of content Jim Jennings, and the auditor from Deloitte overseeing RTÉ.

“As the Grant Thornton auditor concludes, ‘in my opinion, the logic of the adjustments was not sound’ accountancy practice. This should never have happened,” said the Sinn Féin TD. “Where was the director general Dee Forbes during this? What was the role of director of content Jim Jennings during this negotiation? Why did Deloitte not put a halt to this?”