Adrian Lynch, RTÉ's Interim Deputy Director, has issued a statement addressing the circumstances around the misstating of payments to presenter Ryan Tubridy between 2020 and 2022.
Last week, the RTÉ Board stated that former Late Late Host, Ryan Tubridy received a series of additional payments totalling €345,000 between 2017 and 2022, that were not part of his published annual salary.
Yesterday evening, Lynch outlined the circumstances of Tubridy’s pay from 2020 to 2022 in a statement based on a review completed by Grant Thornton.
The circumstances that led to the understatement of Tubridy’s earnings from 2017 to 2019, an estimated €120,000 to €345,000 in hidden payments, are still being reviewed by Grant Thornton.
Dee Forbes, who has resigned as Director General of RTÉ, was not consulted in the drafting of the statement and Mr Lynch stated she may dispute some elements of it.
In the nine-page statement released yesterday evening, Lynch claimed "No member of the RTÉ Executive Board, other than the Director General, had all the necessary information in order to understand that the publicly declared figures for Ryan Tubridy could have been wrong".
In response to this, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar commented in the Dáil: “We do not believe it is credible that the former DG Dee Forbes was the only person with knowledge of these events.”
Forbes was originally set to appear before the Oireachtais today, but declined to go on the basis of health reasons.
To read the full statement, click here.
