RTÉ’s director-general is taking legal advice over his decision not to pay the most recent invoice for Ryan Tubridy’s services to the organisation.
The national broadcaster has been embroiled in controversy for weeks after it announced that it had under-reported Mr Tubridy’s salary and failed to declare hundreds of thousands of euros in additional payments to him.
Mr Tubridy normally hosts a radio programme every weekday but has not been on air since the scandal emerged.
The contractual position of the presenter is in dispute after he stepped down from his television duties earlier this year.
RTÉ said it had suspended renegotiation of the contract down to radio-only services which were under way when the hidden payments were revealed.
Kevin Bakhurst, who took up the position of director-general on Monday, told the Public Accounts Committee that Mr Tubridy had not yet been paid for his most recent invoice for services.
Asked what salary Mr Tubridy is being paid, Mr Bakhurst said: “We’ll have to continue discussions with Mr Tubridy’s agent about that because clearly he’s not doing his TV programme any more.
“He should be available for radio so we have not settled on exactly what he should be being paid at the moment but we’ll be paying the appropriate amount once we’ve confirmed.”
Asked if any salary was currently being paid to Tubridy, Mr Bakhurst said: “As of this week, no. Because we need to agree what the level of that is.
“As I understand it, the latest invoice came in this week and my advice is we need to decide exactly what we’re paying him because he’s not doing his past duties any more, so that’s currently a process going on.”
RTÉ has not announced whether Tubridy will return to the airwaves.
The director-general said there will be a “fair process” around a decision on Ryan Tubridy’s future at the broadcaster and this would happen “as quickly as possible”.
Mr Bakhurst said he wants to speak to key members of radio staff and the interim leadership team before he makes the decision.
He said he wants “to be fair to Ryan” but had acknowledged he had not spoken to the presenter.
After the committee, he was asked by reporters if he was concerned that his decision not to pay the invoice would result in legal action.
“I’m taking proper legal advice on that,” he said. “The legal advice is we need to find a proper negotiated way of paying him.”
Earlier at the committee, Mr Bakhurst was also asked about an offer from Tubridy to pay back two payments at the centre of the scandal.
Tubridy, RTÉ and Renault entered into a tripartite agreement which involved the star presenter receiving payment for attending three events for the car manufacturer.
However, in addition, RTÉ had verbally agreed to underwrite the deal in the event a commercial sponsor could not be found for subsequent years.
The national broadcaster said Renault was not involved in the deal after year one.
RTÉ executives previously explained that Renault paid Tubridy the first €75,000 payment, while two other €75,000 payments were from RTÉ, as it had underwritten the amounts due – in what TDs were previously told was a verbal-only agreement made on a Microsoft Teams meeting in May 2020.
On Thursday, acting deputy director-general Adrian Lynch said it was RTÉ’s position that the agreement was “central” to negotiations around Tubridy’s wider contract with the broadcaster.
Mr Lynch also challenged a claim from Tubridy’s agent Noel Kelly that he did not know Renault had not renewed years two and three of the commercial deal.
“In relation to some of the commentary made here on Tuesday last, RTÉ must clarify the proposal to underwrite these payments was central to the contractual negotiations between RTÉ and Mr Tubridy,” he said.
“We believe that the substantive contract would not have been signed without the additional commercial agreements or the underwriting.
“Moreover, we contend that the payments of €75,000 per year for year two and three of the commercial contract were pursued by NK Management (Mr Kelly’s company) despite it knowing that the Renault contract was no longer in place.”
Mr Kelly had also told Oireachtas committees on Tuesday that six events were still owed to a commercial partner under the second and third year of the arrangement, while Tubridy said: “If that work is not called upon to be done, of course the money goes back.”
On Thursday, Fianna Fáil TD Paul McAuliffe asked RTÉ’s leadership if it was credible that Mr Kelly believed Renault was making all the payments rather than the broadcaster.
Mr Lynch said: “The commercial director was not asking Renault to deliver another six events. On that basis, I’m not quite sure what he was thinking.”
Mr Bakhurst said he would welcome a repayment of the two €75,000 payments from Tubridy and his agent, but added there is probably no legal obligation for them to do so.
Asked by Alan Dillon TD if RTÉ would look to recoup the money, Mr Bakhurst said: “Yes.”
Additionally, Mr Bakhurst and Mr Lynch said no legal papers have been served on the national broadcaster on behalf of Tubridy amid the payments scandal.
