Patrick Kielty reveals his salary for RTÉ's The Late Late Show

Patrick Kielty says he "can't wait to get started" as The Late Late Show presenter

Patrick Kielty has said his deal with RTÉ to present The Late Late Show is worth €250,000 (£216,000) for each series.

He revealed the figure amid controversy about substantial undeclared payments that had been made to his predecessor Ryan Tubridy.

Dee Forbes, the director general of the Irish public service broadcaster, resigned on Monday as questions mounted about the deal with Mr Tubridy.

On Thursday Mr Kielty said he had signed a three-series deal to host The Late Late Show on RTÉ One, with each series consisting of 30 episodes.

He said he would be paid €250,000 for each series, earning €750,000 (£648,166) over the course of the deal, with any additional episodes paid on a pro-rata basis.

Mr Tubridy was paid an annual salary of €440,000 (£383,236) in 2020 and 2021, which covered hosting the Late Late Show and hosting a weekday radio programme.

Last week it emerged that Mr Tubridy received €345,000 (£296,000) more between 2017 and 2022 than RTÉ had previously declared.

The extra payments were uncovered after RTÉ's auditors alerted the board to some of the transactions in March.

Dee Forbes was suspended last week and resigned on Monday

Mr Kielty will also receive a one-off payment of €20,000 (£17,279) to cover pre-production and rehearsals from now until September.

"The contract allows me to submit flight and accommodation expenses but I’ve waived this," said the Northern Ireland-born comedian.

"I’ve made it clear to RTÉ that I will be covering my own flights and accommodation costs.

"I genuinely hope this helps clarify things going forward. I can't wait to get started."

The Late Late Show is one of the world's longest-running late-night chat shows, having started in 1962.

Mr Tubridy stepped down as its host in March, with his replacement announced last month.

Ryan Tubridy has apologised for not questioning the payments made to him

Mr Kielty, who is originally from County Down, has had a long career in stand-up comedy and TV and radio presenting.

On Wednesday RTÉ had said it would be willing to publish details of his salary if he agreed after calls for the figure to be made public.

RTÉ representatives were questioned by an Oireachtas (Irish parliament) committee on Wednesday and denied suggestions that the discovery of the invoices was linked to Mr Tubridy's announcement that he was leaving The Late Late Show.

RTÉ staff have been protesting to call for transparency at Ireland's national broadcaster

The Irish government has ordered an external review into the governance and culture at RTÉ.

Ms Forbes was suspended last week and then resigned with immediate effect on Monday.

She had been the director general at RTÉ for almost seven years, having taken up the post in July 2016.

Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar has said that Ms Forbes, Mr Tubridy and his agent Noel Kelly should face questions from the Oireachtas.

"We are trying to get to the bottom of what happened when it comes to these unusual, clandestine payments in RTÉ," said Mr Varadkar.

"There are procedures, they will be treated fairly and I think that would be the right thing to do from their part.

"They may have a story to tell and I think it's right that they should be allowed to tell their side of the story."