Ryan Tubridy and his agent Noel Kelly appeared before the Oireachtas Media Committee this afternoon after appearing before the Public Accounts Committee earlier this morning.
RTÉ under-reported the earnings of star presenter Ryan Tubridy and failed to disclose €345,000 of additional payments to him between 2017 and 2022.
The main points from the Media Committee are as follows:
- Mr Tubridy said he is still being paid by RTÉ as part of his contract that ends in 2025 but said "I could be out of a job by Friday".
- Mr Tubridy said that it “strikes me as being unorthodox” that RTE paid two €75,000 payments to him after a sponsor pulled out of a tripartite deal.
- Mr Tubridy said he waived a loyalty fee worth €120,000 at the end of his contract with Renault as he had not carried out additional work for them.
- The RTÉ presenter has admitted it is "touch and go" whether he will keep his RTÉ radio job.
18:25pm
Noel Kelly said it is not possible that former RTÉ director general was the only one who knew about the payments as she was always surrounded by a legal team.
18:15pm
Senator Sherlock asked if Ryan Tubridy felt he was part of the pay cuts that happened in RTÉ due to the pandemic. He said: "To my knowledge I was one of the people who was getting a pay cut, obviously on a different level to other staff members."
She asked "Is your integrity is damaged?," to which Tubridy said: "Yes the salary I get is enormous, but that doesn't affect my soul.
18:00pm
Labour Senator, Marie Sherlock said that Ryan Tubridy use the RTÉ brand to help with his commercial relationship with Renault.
She queried Noel Kelly's claims that the presenter had seen a 41 per cent cut in salary from 2012-2020 and said the claim was 'false'.
17:45pm
Fine Gael TD, Ciarán Cannon asked Noel Kelly why he made an agreement RTÉ that if a sponsor pulls out the broadcaster would pay the €75,000 per anum owed to Ryan Tubridy.
Noel Kelly said: "This is a commercial agreement with Renault, and we never expected RTÉ to actually pay the sum. If there was no sponsor there would be no payment."
17:35pm
Fianna Fáil Senator, Shane Cassells asked Ryan Tubridy why he would be seeking additional payment outside of his annual salary he gets with RTÉ.
Ryan Tubridy said he "trusts" his agent to negotiate his contract like a football agent does.
17:15pm
Independent TD for Tipperary Mattie McGrath asked Ryan Tubridy if he still has faith in Noel Kelly despite what has transpired.
Tubridy said "I still have faith with him after working with him over 20 years."
Noel Kelly told the TD that he has a duty of care to his clients and that independent contractors like Ryan Tubridy do not get a pension.
16:38pm
Ryan Tubridy has admitted it is “touch and go” whether he keeps his job on RTÉ radio.
He also offered to publish his contract on an annual basis as part of the “cathartic” process going on within the broadcaster.
“In the event that I do keep my job, and it’s touch and go from my understanding of it at the moment, I’d be happy to suggest that in the future we’d have a situation where you would publish my contract on an annual basis, with a few obviously redactions for personnel or what have you, with the money and the salary and the earnings there straight up,” he said.
“lf RTÉ are going through a cathartic week, let this be part of it. I will offer that.
“I have nothing to hide. Put the contract out, put it online, tell everyone how much, don’t wait for three years then have this codology that can happen all this time later.” work to be done.
"If that work is not called upon to be done, of course the money goes back.”
16:32pm
Ryan Tubridy said that he waived a €120,000 loyalty fee at the end of his 2015-2019 contract because he had not carried out additional pieces of work.
“In reality, this was a fee to be paid at the end of the contract where I would make myself available at any stage during the contract to do additional, optional work for RTÉ. Now, as it turned out, in 2021, when that contract completed, I was not called upon to deliver any of these additional pieces of work.
“So although I was entitled to payment for making myself available, I waived this entitlement. I didn’t issue any invoice on the basis of that – I didn’t want to be paid for work that I did not do.”
He also said of the €75,000 payments, paid in advance for taking part in three events a year for Renault, that if these don’t take place, the money will be paid back.
“The reality with that is… that is referring to six outstanding appearances that were to be made for Renault. I chose to leave the Late Late Show… but there’s still outstanding."
16:25pm
Sinn Féin Senator Fintan Warfield asked Ryan Tubridy why exactly he is an independent contractor to which Mr Tubridy said it was on advice on from his agent Noel Kelly and RTÉ themselves.
Tubridy said: "It allows me to do other stuff outside of RTÉ like write a book about JFK, which I have done."
16:21pm
Ryan Tubridy said that he waived a €120,000 loyalty fee at the end of his 2015-2019 contract because he had not carried out additional pieces of work.
“In reality, this was a fee to be paid at the end of the contract where I would make myself available at any stage during the contract to do additional, optional work for RTÉ
"Now, as it turned out, in 2021, when that contract completed, I was not called upon to deliver any of these additional pieces of work.
“So although I was entitled to payment for making myself available, I waived this entitlement. I didn’t issue any invoice on the basis of that – I didn’t want to be paid for work that I did not do.”
He also said of the €75,000 payments, paid in advance for taking part in three events a year for Renault, that if these don’t take place, the money will be paid back.
“The reality with that is… that is referring to six outstanding appearances that were to be made for Renault. I chose to leave the Late Late Show… but there’s still outstanding work to be done. If that work is not called upon to be done, of course the money goes back.”
16:14pm
15:45pm
Radio presenter Ryan Tubridy has said that it “strikes me as being unorthodox” that RTE paid two €75,000 payments to him after a sponsor pulled out of a tripartite deal.
“I’m not here to be critical of RTÉ. I’ve been working there since I was 12 years old, you know, it’s a very important place to me, but I have to defend myself,” he told the Media committee.
“The new director general of RTE has asked for maximum transparency. That is what he said in the last 48 hours. That’s why I’m here.”
15:39pm
Ryan Tubridy told Sinn Féin, Imelda Munster there has been a lot misreporting about the figures around payments made to him.
15:28pm
Fine Gael TD, Alan Dillon asked Noel Kelly whether he has used a barter account before coming to RTÉ to which he answered 'No'.
He said the deals done with Renault were separate to the deal Tubridy made with RTÉ for his radio and tv appearances.
Mr Dillon said Noel Kelly must accept that he played a "pivotal role" in payments made Tubridy and Renault.
When asked if Tubridy is still being paid by RTÉ he said "Yes" but added when it comes to contract negotiations "I could be out of a job by Friday."
15:15pm
When asked by Fianna Fáil TD Christopher Sullivan if he still trusts and has faith in his agent Noel Kelly, Ryan Tubridy said he "yes".
Mr Sullivan asked Tubridy whether he feels like he has got special treatment from RTÉ. In response Tubridy said "I have essentially taken a 40 per cent pay cut" in recent years.
