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Tubridy "Completely" Contradicts What RTÉ Have Been Saying

Tuesday, 11 July 2023 06:45

The pair and their legal representatives will be grilled by two committees today.

All eyes will be on the Public Accounts Committee this morning, as Ryan Tubridy and agent Noel Kelly are due to make an appearance.

The pair will be questioned by TDs and Senators from 11am, in relation to undisclosed payments, totaling €345,000,  made to the star between 2017 and 2022.

They'll then face the Oireachtas Media Committee later today, ahead of a PAC meeting with senior RTÉ executives on Thursday.

Mr. Tubridy and Mr. Kelly volunteered to appear before the Public Accounts Committee, which Chairperson and Laois Offaly Sinn Féin TD Brian Stanley says it a positive sign:

Ryan Tubridy is describing the last few weeks as his darkest hour professionally and personally in a statement ahead of two Oireachtas Committee hearings this morning. 

Key documents provided this morning completely contradicts what RTÉ management had said last week

It shows the former Chief Financial Officer Breda O'Keefe gave confirmation in an email to Noel Kelly in February 2020 that RTÉ would underwrite the €75,000 a year coming from Renault

Last week she said the entire management team had been united against that and it was basically suggested this was a solo run from Dee Forbes.

Ryan Tubridy lists seven untruths in his statement including that 

He also denies he was overpaid, saying it was RTÉ over reporting. He says the Renault deal was never a secret and said he didn't take a cent of the 120,000 euro due to him between 2017 and 2019

Tubridy also says he wasn't consulted once in the Grant Thornton review and because of RTÉ's accounting practices the narrative of the last three weeks has falsely been that not only did he take a €120,000 payment which he didn't receive, but that he also contrived to hide it.

Meanwhile RTÉ are denying the veracity of the former Late Late show hosts' statements:

"RTÉ rejects the claim that an incorrect version of events was presented to the Joint Oireachtas Committee and/or to the Dáil Committee of Public Accounts regarding RTÉ’s agreement to underwrite payments of €75,000 per contract year due to Mr Tubridy.

For clarity, the claim relates specifically to an email that was sent by the former CFO of RTÉ to NK Management on 20 February 2020, which is being characterised as a contractual commitment on the part of RTÉ to underwrite the payments in question.

RTÉ does not accept this characterisation. RTÉ’s position is that the email of 20 February 2020 formed part of the discussions and engagement between it and NK Management in relation to the proposed new TV and radio contract with Mr Tubridy/Tuttle Productions and did not comprise a binding legal or contractual commitment on its part.

RTÉ’s position is as per previous statements: that, until the verbal commitment given by the former Director General during the call on 7 May 2020, it had not agreed to underwrite the €75,000 payment per contract year."

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