RTÉ rejects claims it concealed internal documents showing Tubridy pay error

RTÉ director-general Kevin Bakhurst and RTÉ board chair Siún Ní Raghallaigh. Picture: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie

RTÉ has rejected claims that it concealed internal documents which shows it knew that errors in Ryan Tubridy’s published pay were its fault, and not his, before the scandal broke.

The national broadcaster moved to clarify its position in the wake of media reports which claimed the RTÉ board knew that a €120,000 error in Ryan Tubridy's pay was RTÉ’s own fault before it named him publicly as the star involved in a payments scandal which ultimately cost him his job.

The Irish Independent reported that a “newly-released document” revealed that the former Late Late Show host’s unpaid bonus was "erroneously” subtracted from his published earnings.

“There is no logic for this,” the internal report, marked 'Private and Confidential'”, said in June.

This report, which was provided to RTÉ chair Siún Ní Raghallaigh four days before she named Mr Tubridy as the figure at the centre of the scandal, has never been provided to the Oireachtas committees investigating the RTÉ payments scandal, despite being asked for, the paper said.

But RTÉ said contrary to some media reports today about its prior knowledge of the details relating to payments to Ryan Tubridy, these are “not new revelations”.

In a statement, the national broadcaster said the email referred to in one media report – an email from RTÉ's former chief financial officer, Richard Collins, to the chair of the board, Ms Ni Raghallaigh, in relation to discrepancies in Mr Tubridy’s stated pay - was “a preliminary internal review”.

This email was then forwarded to Grant Thornton to conduct a formal fact-based review – its second review into the payments scandal.

RTÉ said it was on the basis of this email that the facts relating to RTÉ payments to Ryan Tubridy were established in the second Grant Thornton review.

“It was not concealed. It was central to this review by Grant Thornton to establish the facts,” RTÉ said.

“This second Grant Thornton review was made public once completed and provided to both (Oireachtas) committees.

“The email had not been formally requested by the Public Accounts Committee at the time the question was raised by Deputy Alan Dillon as to why it hadn't been provided.

“Furthermore, the second Grant Thornton review had already commenced at that stage.

“RTÉ has provided hundreds of documents and emails to both the Public Accounts Committee and the Joint Oireachtas Committee to date and remains in contact with both committees."

The first Grant Thornton report examined the €75,000-a-year Renault deal from 2020 to 2022.

The second Grant Thornton into payment arrangements in previous years cleared Mr Tubridy of any wrongdoing for the 2017-2019 misstatement of his earnings.