Ryan Tubridy to be asked to explain RTÉ pay deal to Oireachtas committee

However, there is a sense that Mr Tubridy will turn down the invitation

Fri, 30 Jun, 2023 - 12:37

Paul Hosford, Political Correspondent

Ryan Tubridy will be asked to explain the circumstances of this pay deal with RTÉ to the Oireachtas, possibly next week.

The Oireachtas Media Committee met this morning and has decided to formally invite Mr Tubridy and his agent Noel Kelly to attend a public hearing as early as next Wednesday.

It is understood the invite will ask the two men and ex-RTÉ board chair Moya Doherty, ex-Director General Noel Curran and ex-CFO Breda O'Keeffe to attend a sitting next Wednesday afternoon.

A committee source said the invitation to former Director General Dee Forbes "still stands". However, there is a sense that Mr Tubridy will turn down the invitation.

It is not yet clear if any of those invited will take up the invitation, though Ms Doherty did attend the Dáil's Public Accounts Committee meeting on Thursday with members of the RTÉ board and executive.

RTÉ has been engulfed in crisis after it was revealed last week that it had under-reported Mr Tubridy’s salary by a total of €345,000 over the period 2017 to 2022.

The Taoiseach has suggested Mr Tubridy should attend the committee.

Speaking in Brussels on Thursday Mr Varadkar said the Government was “trying to get to the bottom of what happened with these unusual clandestine payments in RTÉ”.

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He added: “RTÉ executives and board members have come before an Oireachtas committee to answer questions, but there are other people who could shine a light on this.

“They include Ryan Tubridy, they include his agent (Noel Kelly), they include Dee Forbes and I still think that they should be willing to come before the committee and answer questions.

“There are procedures, they will be treated fairly, and I think that would be the right thing to do from their part.

“They may have a story to tell, I think it is right they should be allowed to tell their side of the story.

“The fact that they wouldn’t, or would refuse to, would be of more concern to me.”

Some RTÉ payments may have been 'on the wrong side of the law', says Varadkar