The unfolding drama at RTÉ over pay practices is to be the subject of an external review as the State broadcaster comes under increasing pressure to clarify how the controversial arrangements came to be.
RTÉ has said no member of its executive board other than former director general Dee Forbes could have known the public was misled on payments to Ryan Tubridy.
In a lengthy statement on Tuesday evening, the broadcaster said the then director general and the former chief financial officer negotiated the deal.
Interim director general Adrian Lynch said Ms Forbes “had all the necessary information in order to understand that the publicly declared figures for Ryan Tubridy could have been wrong”.
Here's what we know about the pay scandal at the national broadcaster so far...
What happened?
The story began with reports on Thursday, June 22nd, that RTÉ was to release a statement concerning issues which had been flagged earlier this year.
The broadcaster issued a statement in which it confirmed a review by Grant Thornton, which had been carried out following questions raised in an audit in March, found that former Late Late Show presenter Ryan Tubridy had received previously undisclosed payments as part of a commercial deal which was separate to his salary.
Under the deal, Tubridy was to be given a €75,000 payment each year by one of RTÉ's commercial partners, however, when the commercial partner chose not to renew the arrangement after one year, RTÉ - having guaranteed the deal - paid the fee in respect of 2021 and 2022.
It was these two payments, both of which were paid in 2022, which prompted the Grant Thornton review.
Did they find anything else amiss?
They did. In that same statement last Thursday, RTÉ confirmed it conducted an internal review into Tubridy's remunerations after receiving Grant Thornton's findings.
As one of the broadcaster's top-10 earners, Tubridy's annual remunerations are published each year.
In addition to the undisclosed commercial payments, RTÉ found Tubridy's reported pay was further understated for the period of his contract from 2017 to 2019 by €120,000.
This meant that Tubridy's previously reported 11 per cent salary reduction from 2019 to 2021, as part of commitments by RTÉ to reduce the fees of top-earning on-air presenters by 15 per cent, was in actuality only a 5.5 per cent cut.
How this understatement of earnings, separate from the commercial payments, came about remains the subject of another review by Grant Thornton, who are also verifying the pay deals of RTÉ's other top-earning on-air presenters.
Is this all legit?
The waters appear to be murky at best.
RTÉ accepted in the initial statement that the misstating of financial information is a "very serious matter", but moreover, as a public service broadcaster which receives considerable State funding, how RTÉ spends its money is very much of public concern.
Understandably, the matter was a topic of discussion in the weekend's papers, with notable allegations made in the Sunday Independent regarding Tubridy's commercial deal.
The article alleged RTÉ has paid over €50 million to advertising agencies in 'kickbacks' over the last 10 years.
The author, who is described as a 'senior Irish media ad agency figure', conceded the practice is "widespread across the industry", but criticised it as anticompetitive and lacking in transparency, as well as causing potential conflicts of interest.
The ambiguity around the payments is one of the major issues, prompting calls for greater transparency from RTÉ, and urgings from the Minister for the Media Catherine Martin for RTÉ to put forward all facts as a matter of urgency.
Are other RTÉ presenters involved?
So far, the issue does not seem to extend beyond Tubridy.
Grant Thornton are still conducting their review into the earnings of the top 10 highest-paid on-air presenters, but RTÉ said their internal review found all other previously reported remunerations, bar Tubridy's were correct.
In addition, a number of the presenters in question have addressed the issue, confirming their reported salaries were correct and that they were not involved in any additional pay arrangements which were not pubically declared.
These include Claire Byrne, Joe Duffy, Miriam O’Callaghan, Brendan O’Connor, Ray D'Arcy, Mary Wilson, Bryan Dobson and Aine Lawlor.
What has Tubs said?
Initially Tubridy took a hands-off approach, stating he was "surprised" to learn of the errors regarding RTÉ's reporting of his pay, adding he could not "shed any light" on the discrepancies.
In a statement on Thursday after the news broke, Tubridy said: "It is unfortunate that these errors are in relation to how RTÉ have reported payments made to me, but I just want to be clear: this is a matter for RTÉ and I have no involvement in RTÉ’s internal accounting treatment or RTÉ’s public declarations in connection with such payments.
"Obviously, I’m disappointed to be at the centre of this story but unfortunately, I can’t shed any light on why RTÉ treated these payments in the way that they did, nor can I answer for their mistakes in this regard."
However, on Friday, Tubridy "apologised unreservedly" for not questioning why his published earnings were not equal to that which he received.
"RTÉ’s accounting treatment and publication of payments made to me between 2017 and 2022 contained serious errors.
"While I have no responsibility for the corporate governance in RTÉ or how or what they publish in their accounts, when my earnings were published I should have asked questions at the time and sought answers as to the circumstances which resulted in incorrect figures being published.
"I didn’t, and I bear responsibility for my failure to do so," Tubridy said in a statement.
What's the feeling among staff at RTÉ?
Frosty to say the least.
This comes at a time when the broadcaster has been attempting to cut costs, so the anger among workers is palpable.
In confirming their salaries, many of RTÉ's top-paid presenters expressed their disappointment over the matter, and further acknowledged how such issues impact the public's trust in the State broadcaster.
More widely, RTÉ staff opted to stage a lunchtime protest on Tuesday, calling for "root and branch reform".
Speaking at the protest, NUJ Dublin Broadcasting chair and RTÉ News education correspondent Emma O Kelly said: "The public deserves a public service broadcaster they really can trust and be proud of.
"We’ve seen talented young journalists walking out the door because this is no longer a place that people feel they have a future in. That really makes the rest of us feel really upset, sorry and sad."
RTÉ News crime correspondent Paul Reynolds added that he was concerned about the "breach of trust" between management and staff.
Who's taking the fall?
While the case is far from closed, RTÉ's director general Dee Forbes was first to face the music.
On Friday, it was confirmed that Ms Forbes had been suspended by the broadcaster on Wednesday, June 21st.
In a separate statement, she said she had fully engage with RTÉ's board since the matter arose in March, adding she had participated in the subsequent Grant Thornton review.
However, on Monday morning, RTÉ confirmed Ms Forbes had resigned from her position.
"I regret very much the upset and adverse publicity suffered by RTÉ, its staff and the unease created among the public in recent days," Ms Forbes said.
"As director-general, I am the person ultimately accountable for what happens within the organisation and I take that responsibility seriously.
"I am tendering my resignation to RTE with immediate effect," she added.
How do we get to the bottom of this?
Politicians, led by Minister for the Media Catherine Martin, has called for all of the facts to be laid bare to establish who knew about these pay arrangements and who approved them.
On Tuesday, ahead of RTÉ's latest statement on the matter, Ms Martin warned the broadcaster it must put "the full facts on public record as a matter of urgency".
"At times of crisis, it is the failure to put all information on the record at the earliest possible juncture that does most damage," the Minister added.
A number of RTÉ representatives are due to appear before both the Oireachtas Media Committee and Public Accounts Committee this week, however, questions have been raised over who these representatives will be.
Senior Government ministers, including Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, called on Ms Forbes to appear before the committees to answer questions despite her resignation.
However, on Tuesday, it was confirmed that solicitors acting on behalf of Ms Forbes had written to the chair of the Media Committee Niamh Smyth to inform her that the former director general will not attend Wednesday's hearing for health reasons.
Unions and RTÉ staff have called for all members of the broadcaster's executive board to appear before the committees, in addition to Ms Forbes.
Furthermore, Ms Martin secured Cabinet approval on Tuesday morning for an external review into RTÉ's governance and culture.
The Minister said on Tuesday that details of the independent review will be ready by the end of the week, adding a two or three person team will also examine the relationship between management and staff at the broadcaster.
