RTE Presenter Ryan Tubridy has welcomed the publication of a report into payments made to him by RTÉ saying he hopes it can help restore the “confidence and trust” of his colleagues and listeners.
Mr Tubridy said the report by Grant Thornton made clear his income from RTÉ in 2020 and 2021 was the same as the figures published as his earnings by RTÉ.
The investigation found that RTÉ adjusted the publicly stated figures for Ryan Tubridy’s salary between 2017 and 2019 to make it appear as though he was paid less than €500,000.
The Grant Thornton report says that, on the “balance of probabilities”, the reason for not reporting the correct figure was about making his overall payment seem smaller.
Mr Tubridy said: “I welcome the findings of the Grant Thornton Report, published today.
“I also welcome the report’s findings that I did not claim €120,000 in fees which was due to me in 2020 and that I did not agree with how RTÉ proposed to account for this decision.
“It is also clear that my actual income from RTE in 2020 and 2021 matches what was originally published as my earnings for those years and RTÉ has not yet published its top 10 earner details for 2022.
“I repeat my offer to publish the details of any future RTÉ contract.
“I am committed to re-establishing the confidence and trust of my colleagues and listeners, and I hope that any fair assessment of the findings of today’s report will help in this regard.
“Finally, I want to acknowledge the huge support that I have received in recent weeks from people across the country; many cards and letters, greetings on the street and words of support from people I bumped into meant an awful lot to me and I appreciate them all very much.”
The Grant Thornton report highlights poor governance including significant deficiencies in internal management controls, failures in the finance function, and a lack of communication from the RTÉ executive to the board.
It also makes clear clear that neither Mr Tubridy nor his agents at NK Management had any involvement in the adjustments for the period 2017 to 2019.
