Tubridy pay deal: ‘I can’t tell you how shocked we all are about it’ - RTÉ board chairwoman

Ryan Tubridy will not present his usual radio show on Friday morning, RTÉ’s chairwoman Siún Ní Raghallaigh has confirmed.

Ms Ní Raghallaigh said she did not know if Mr Tubridy would be returning to his Radio 1 morning show next week.

Speaking on RTÉ’s Six One News on Thursday, Ní Raghallaigh did not reject the proposition that “RTÉ lied to the public” when it was put to her by Six One presenter David McCullagh.

Mr McCullagh said: “it is not just the public that are being lied to, though. RTÉ misled the Oireachtas, misled the Government, claimed that over a six-year period, Ryan Tubridy’s remuneration was reduced by €50,000, in fact it increased, he was paid more last year that he had been in 2017, how does RTÉ come back from this”, he asked.

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Ms Ní Raghallaigh responded: “Yes, I agree with you. It is very damaging. We have to build that trust up again. It is the function of the board to oversee the governance of this organisation and that is what we are about. But it is also a function of the board to ensure that we build that trust again.

[ ‘This is a matter for RTÉ’: Tubridy says he cannot answer for RTÉ's ‘mistakes’ in understating his pay ]

Ms Ní Raghallaigh, who has been chairwoman only since last November, said no member of the board was aware of the unusual arrangements with regard to Mr Tubridy’s remuneration. She said the commercial arm of the station was involved in generating payments and this was “not the correct way it should have been”.

Ms Ní Raghallaigh said she wanted to say “from the outset” that the board deeply regrets it, it is a betrayal of trust to the public”. She said the board was apologising for that.

“I would say that we did act quickly when we were alerted to this” she said adding that the board had received a report from external consultants last Friday and discussed it on Monday morning.

Ms Ní Raghallaigh the “matter around the personalities or the people involved in this” is not something we can talk about at this point”. She said the board was “still in process in relation to other matters around that”.

She said people would be held accountable, but was unable to say in what way this would happen “until I know what we are talking about”.

She said Mr Tubridy’s resignation as presenter of the Late Late Show was not connected with the current controversy, “not at all”.

She said “editorial is not our function, but I am informed that he will not be on the radio in the morning”.

Asked if Mr Tubridy would be returning to radio next week, Ms Ní Raghallaigh said “that is a matter for the executive”.

[ RTÉ's shocking breach of trust over Tubridy’s unusual pay deal weakens broadcaster’s financial pleas ]

Regarding the underdeclaring of payments to Mr Tubridy Ms Ní Raghallaigh said the money was not hidden in the accounts. “No, it wasn’t in the accounts”. She said consultants Grant Thornton would be doing a separate piece of work around this aspect, “I just know they were understated”.

“So, the account would have been under the control of the commercial department, because, if you understand it was in relation to advertising. That is not the correct way it should have been, that has now changed and it is under the control of the finance department”.