The main questions RTÉ must answer over Ryan Tubridy's undisclosed payments

RTÉ representatives are due to come before the Oireachtas this week. 

It is not clear just who knew about Ryan Tubridy's payments, but in her statement announcing her immediate departure from the broadcaster, former Director General, Dee Forbes (left), said that she “led the discussions” with Mr Tubridy's agent Noel Kelly, but said that this was "together with other RTÉ senior executives”. Picture: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

With RTÉ representatives due to come before the Oireachtas this week, calls for transparency and answers have been coming from all corners.

But what questions remain unanswered and will we get any clarity on them in the coming days.

These are the key questions facing RTÉ this week.

Who knew about the deal and who signed off on it?

The whole controversy centres on the nature of payments made to former Late Late Show host Ryan Tubridy. Revelations that Mr Tubridy was paid an extra €345,000 by RTÉ since 2017 have dominated the news since Thursday, but despite multiple statements, it is not clear just who knew about the deal. 

In her statement announcing her immediate departure from the broadcaster, former Director General, Dee Forbes, said that she “led the discussions” with Mr Tubridy's agent Noel Kelly, but said that this was "together with other RTÉ senior executives”. 

Who were those executives and did anyone dissent to the deal? 

Who ultimately gave the go-ahead to the deal being signed? Ms Forbes also made it clear that her knowledge was related solely to Mr Tubridy's deal between 2020 and 2023.

"I understand from media reports and RTÉ’s statement that the Board has raised questions concerning payments to Ryan Tubridy between 2017-2019. I have no knowledge of those payments and the Board has not raised those questions with me," she said.

What oversight was in place?

The question of who knew is naturally followed by who would have overseen Mr Tubridy's deal. RTÉ board chair Siún Ní Raghallaigh and former chairwoman Moya Doherty both have said that they did not know about the deal, but Ms Forbes has insisted that at no point did she “act contrary to any advice". Whose advice and why? 

Ms Forbes' statement says that RTÉ was "attempting to retain Ryan Tubridy’s services as a valued presenter and negotiate a new contract”. Was he in the process of being poached by a rival? Had someone bettered RTÉ's terms?

What will RTÉ release to the public?

In a second statement on Monday, the RTÉ board said that it will on Tuesday issue "a comprehensive statement setting out its understanding of the circumstances surrounding the misstating of Ryan Tubridy's earnings across the 2020-2022 period". 

RTÉ also said it will "publish as much as possible of the Grant Thornton review, which was commissioned by the Audit and Risk Committee of the RTÉ Board, and received by the Board on Monday last". What will be in those documents is eagerly awaited.

Who knew about the pre-2020 deal with Mr Tubridy?

In her statement, Ms Forbes says that she didn't know about the excess payments to Mr Tubridy between 2017 and 2019. But who did know? Mr Tubridy says that he "should have asked questions" about the publication of his salary, but didn't. 

He also says that RTÉ's "accounting treatment and publication of payments made to me between 2017 and 2022 contained serious errors" for which he is not liable. But who is?

Will Dee Forbes or Ryan Tubridy appear before a committee?

Ms Forbes' statement was taken by many as a signal to the Oireachtas that she will not be coming before committees. However, she may still be compelled to come before the Public Accounts Committee. Mr Tubridy has not been invited, but Taoiseach Leo Varadkar says that if he is, he should attend.