RTÉ admits paying Late Late Show host Ryan Tubridy more than declared

Irish TV presenter Ryan Tubridy was paid €345,000 (£296,800) more than was declared publicly, the national broadcaster RTÉ has admitted.

Mr Tubridy received the payments between 2017 and 2022, the RTÉ board said on Thursday.

The payments were uncovered after auditors raised concerns.

The presenter recently stood down as host of the Late Late Show,

Mr Tubridy will not present his radio show on Friday due to the controversy.

RTÉ’s board said it had now corrected the public record and has published accurate earnings figures for Mr Tubridy.

'Credit note'

It said between 2017 and 2022 Mr Tubridy received a series of payments totalling €345,000 above what was made public.

A review, the board said, found that under a separate agreement Mr Tubridy was guaranteed €75,000 of additional annual income by RTÉ which was intended to be paid by a commercial partner.

A payment made by a commercial partner was in exchange for a number of personal appearances, the board said in a statement.

"As part of this agreement, RTÉ in turn issued a credit note to the commercial partner, thereby reducing the cost to it of its overall sponsorship arrangement with the organisation," the statement said.

"The commercial partner did not renew this agreement for a second year, and since the agreement was guaranteed and underwritten by RTÉ, the payments were instead made directly by RTÉ to Mr Tubridy's agent (on his behalf)."

Mr Tubridy, as a result, received two payments totalling €150,000 in 2022, for that year and the previous year.

Remuneration review

Between 2017 and 2019, the board said, the then Late Late Show host received a total of €120,000 more from RTÉ than had been declared publicly.

The board said it is investigating the reasons for that and added that a review into the remuneration of its top 10 most highly paid on-air presenters has been conducted.

It said all contracts with those on-air presenters had been reported correctly.

"The board is committed to ensuring that there is appropriate accountability for what has occurred," it said.

"That process is ongoing, mindful of individuals' rights, and affording them due process”.

Measures have now been put in place to ensure these matters do not occur again, the board added.

RTÉ said it has now corrected the public record

"The RTÉ Board considers the public mis-stating of RTÉ's financial information to be a very serious matter and has moved as quickly as it could, once it had independently established the facts, to publish the correct figures," it said.

Seamus Dooley, the Irish secretary at the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), said the revelations have "shocked and dismayed" staff throughout RTÉ.

"The secret nature of the payments is a breach of trust unparalleled in the history of RTÉ," he said.

"It is a betrayal of the workers and has long term consequences for the relationship between RTÉ and its employees."