Updated: 7.30pm
Miriam O'Callaghan has become the latest RTÉ presenter to confirm her previously reported remunerations were correct.
O'Callaghan joined fellow presenters in confirming their reported pay figures were correct, and that they had not received any payments under barter arrangements.
It comes as RTÉ is scrambling to deal with the fallout of a review into payments made to former Late Late Show presenter Ryan Tubridy and the understatement of his salary.
Claire Byrne and Joe Duffy both confirmed their published remunerations were correct on their respective radio slots on Monday, while Brendan O'Connor said he was party to no such barter payments while discussing the matter on his show on Sunday.
O'Callaghan joined her colleagues by issuing a statement on Monday evening, in which she said she has been "incredibly sad" since the story came to light.
"For the purpose of transparency, honesty, and clarity, I want to put on the record that my most recently published fee from RTÉ — €263,500 — is correct, as are the published fees for previous years," O'Callaghan's statement read.
Anger
"I have never received additional payments from RTÉ that were not publicly declared," O'Callaghan said.
She added there is "profound shock, anger, and sadness" among those working at RTÉ.
O'Callaghan's remarks echoed those made by Byrne earlier on Monday, who told listeners of her show that she has been "grappling" with the news since it broke last week.
The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) confirmed that, "in response to request from member" the union will stage a lunchtime protest at RTÉ in Donnybrook on Tuesday.
"The NUJ are acutely aware of the ongoing anger of members and also of the powerlessness that many members are feeling.
"This will be an opportunity for NUJ members to stand together and express in unity their anger and the urgent need for answers as soon as possible, for the public and for staff," the NUJ said.
Earlier, union representatives called on Dee Forbes to appear before Oireachtas committees over the matter, despite offering her resignation as RTÉ director general.
The NUJ also called on executives with knowledge of the “bizarre” arrangements to appear before the Media committee and Public Accounts Committee (PAC) this Wednesday and Thursday.
Brian Stanley TD, chairman of the PAC, said TDs and senators would have to accept the situation if there are serious medical issues.
In an interview on RTÉ radio, he said: “What I would expect is that, medically, if she is fit to attend on Thursday, I would expect her to come.”
RTÉ’s education correspondent Emma O’Kelly, who is chair of the NUJ’s Dublin broadcasting branch, said this is one of the most important weeks for the public service broadcaster.
When asked whether Ms Forbes should be among those before the committee, she said “I hope she does.”
“I noticed in her statement that she said she cares very deeply about RTÉ and I welcome that, and I’m glad to hear it,” she told RTÉ’s Today with Claire Byrne programme.
“However, in my experience, RTÉ has a habit of thinking that if you say something, it is true simply by virtue of the fact that you have said it.
“Anyone who cares very deeply about things or people knows that that is expressed in actions. So, I would like to see that expressed in action and the first way of expressing that is to agree to attend before committees.”
She added: “Anybody who had any knowledge of any of this needs to appear before the committee.
“Also, these numerous internal communications that she spoke of, RTÉ needs to publish those internal communications, it needs to do so ASAP, not wait until Wednesday or Thursday. Those should go up on the RTÉ website by close of business today.”
NUJ secretary Seamus Dooley told RTÉ Radio that executive board members who were involved in the deal should be the ones who appear before the committees, saying it would be “bizarre” if those with no knowledge of the payments were put up before it.
He said if deputy director general Adrian Lynch was unaware of the payments, it did not make sense for him to appear and take a “punishment beating from TDs angry about this” while others are absent.
Mr Dooley said the deal was “grubby in the extreme” and that a “fundamental rethink” of commercial dealings at RTÉ was needed.
Ms Kelly said that for years she had heard concerns from staff on zero-hour contracts, struggling to get resources and equipment repaired in RTÉ.
“There’s a culture in the organisation that people have been unhappy with for a very long time. Also, the issue is with transparency, there’s been a culture of secrecy in this organisation that I as a union rep have been aware of for so long and that absolutely needs to change,” she said.
“So morale, people are furious, they’re angry, this is a really important week for people – probably the most important week ever in RTÉ. People are watching very carefully, they’re waiting until Wednesday and Thursday to see what’s said, but also they’re watching today, tomorrow.
“Nobody can wait for this external review, seven months (away), that is out of the question.”
