Cars and income from speaking engagements are among the side deals the state broadcaster is asking selected staff to detail this week.
The questioning got more pointed for the second appearance by RTÉ executives and board members past and present in as many days. One remarkable absence continued to hang over proceedings.
The Oireachtas Media Committee quizzed RTÉ representatives all afternoon in the first of two sessions planned in response to revelations of hidden payments to Ryan Tubridy. There was light shed on some of the many dark areas surrounding the scandal but not all.
RTÉ interim director general Adrian Lynch says what occurred was a “breach of trust,” but there was “no illegality.” RTÉ also says Ryan Tubridy did nothing wrong.
RTÉ has made public the initial forensic accountants’ report into top-up payments to Ryan Tubridy, detailing the complex steps taken to keep them hidden, and the facts that can't be recalled.
Grant Thornton will investigate payments to top RTÉ presenters going back to 2008, including the statement by resigned director general Dee Forbes that she didn’t know about pre-2020 hidden fees to Ryan Tubridy.
The major commercial sponsors of Ryan Tubridy's TV and radio shows are understood to be in discussions with RTÉ over the presenter's hidden payments, which he has now apologised for not questioning.
By suspending its top executive, the board of RTÉ has confirmed that she is at the centre of ongoing investigations.
When RTÉ staff were facing pay cuts, slashed allowances and voluntary redundancies, the broadcaster's most highly paid presenter was getting secret salary top-ups. The trade unions have called this a "breach of trust" and are looking for answers.
We now know that the State broadcaster's highest-paid presenter in fact received more than €500,000 for each of the past six years once unofficial payments are factored in. How was the practice allowed for so long and why did RTÉ's governance leave it undetected?
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