It is “not tenable” for the presenter Ryan Tubridy to appear on air in the context of the ongoing controversy over payments to him, an Oireachtas committee has been told by the interim director general of the national broadcaster.
Adrian Lynch, who told the Committee on Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht that he was editor-in-chief of the national broadcaster, was questioned by a number of politicians about when the presenter would be returning to the airwaves, but did not give a definitive answer.
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He said that it “is impossible for Ryan Tubridy to be back on air” due to what he described as “editorial reasons”.
Pressed on whether the former Late Late Show host would return eventually to the airwaves, he said: “Again, can I just say for editorial reasons he is not on air at the moment.”
He said the presenter’s TV and radio contract ended on May 31st and negotiations on a radio-only contract were currently suspended. Mr Tubridy was continuing to be paid on a radio-only basis, he said, but was not currently appearing on air.
Responding to questioning from the committee chair, Niamh Smyth, the chair of the RTÉ board, Siun Ní Raghallaigh, said the deal negotiated with Patrick Kielty, who is to replace Mr Tubridy as presenter of the Late Late Show, will be discussed by the board’s remuneration committee on Friday.
RTÉ's chief financial officer, Richard Collins, said the contract had been signed by both sides.
Ms Smyth asked that the details of Mr Kielty’s contract be disclosed to the committee on Friday evening or Monday morning, and that if anyone had an objection to that being done, that the committee should be so informed.
RTÉ News reported on Wednesday night that Mr Kielty wished to make his fee public once the appropriate processes have concluded.
Ms Ní Raghallaigh told the committee the RTÉ board sought the resignation of the Director General, Dee Forbes, on Monday of last week, and initiated a disciplinary process when she did not agree to go.
RTÉ still struggling with fallout from Tubridy’s secret pay deal
On Monday morning, Ms Forbes announced publicly that she had resigned with immediate effect. Members of the committee were strongly critical of the board’s decision to accept the resignation.
Independent deputy Mattie McGrath said the board could have refused to accept her resignation. “You cut off the umbilical cord,” he said, “because it suits you.”
Oireachtas committees can compel public servants to appear before them but not private citizens.
Geraldine O’Leary, the group head of commercial at RTÉ, said the proposal whereby the sponsor of the Late Late Show, Renault, would pay Mr Tubridy €75,000, was agreed between Ms Forbes and the presenter’s agent, Noel Kelly, without her or Renault being consulted.
People Before Profit deputy Richard Boyd Barrett said it appeared Mr Tubridy’s agent, Mr Kelly, objected to his client taking a cut of 15 per cent during the drive to reduce the fees of top earners at the station. Mr Lynch said he wasn’t directly involved “but there seems to have been significant push back, so yeah”.
The committee was told that Renault agreed to become involved in the deal as long as it was “cost neutral” for it. The car manufacturer was given a credit by RTÉ equal to the €75,000 it paid Mr Tubridy.
“Renault were never going to pay anything, were they?” said Mr Boyd Barrett. “RTÉ were always going to pay. Isn’t that correct?”
“The moment this was cost neutral [for Renault],” Mr Lynch said, “RTÉ was paying Ryan Tubridy.”
The committee heard that a €120,000 “loyalty bonus” credited for unknown reasons against Mr Tubridy’s earnings between 2017 and 2019 was “not in fact paid”. The matter is under investigation by Grant Thornton, the broadcaster’s chief financial officer Mr Collins said.
In response to questioning from senator Marie Sherlock of Labour, Ms Ní Raghallaigh said she believed there was a cultural problem with RTÉ.
“This is why we are here. It is a culture that is in there that accepts that, well, that is approved by the [director general] so I am not going to talk about it.”
She said she believed RTÉ often bid against itself when contracts were being negotiated for its best-paid presenters amid concerns that presenters might leave for a rival station.
“I absolutely believe that it is something that we definitely have to look at and I would argue that RTÉ is sometimes bidding against itself because there isn’t a market there. It is certainly something that the incoming [director general] and myself have talked about ... along with the issue of agents.”
Ms Smyth said the committee was going to invite Mr Tubridy and Mr Kelly to appear before it, and that the invitation to Ms Forbes remained open.
