RTÉ Director General Kevin Bakhurst said today that RTÉ has concluded negotiations with presenter Ryan Tubridy.
"We went into negotiations with Ryan in good faith and in the hopes of reaching an agreement that would see Ryan return to his RTÉ Radio 1 show," Bakhurst said in his email to RTÉ staff today, Thursday, August 17.
“I have decided not to continue with negotiations and, as such, there are no plans for Ryan to return to his presenting role with RTÉ at this time.
“Despite having agreed some of the fundamentals, including fee, duration and hours, regretfully, it is my view that trust between the parties has broken down.
"Public statements made without consultation appear to question the basis for the necessary restatement of fees paid for services for 2020 and 2021.
“As I set about a programme of recovery from this crisis, it is imperative that all parties are aligned in one key respect: the misstatement of fees should never have happened; and the correct re-statement of those fees is accepted by all.
“I have been clear since I took up the role of Director-General of RTÉ that I am absolutely committed to restoring trust in this organisation following a shameful period in our history.
“To achieve this, and fully draw a line between our recent past and present, we must acknowledge and accept the issues that have arisen.
“Who knows what the future holds, but for now I am concluding the negotiation with Ryan, and focusing on delivering a range of important changes to the operation and culture of this organisation as part of the essential work to restore trust in RTÉ."
Tubridy, who concluded his tenure as host of RTÉ's "The Late Late Show" in May, has not presented his RTÉ Radio show since June 22, the same day that RTÉ admitted he received a series of payments totaling €345,000 above his published salary between 2017 and 2022.
Bakhurst announced that negotiations with Tubridy concluded the day after the RTÉ Board published the second report by Grant Thornton, which was commissioned by RTÉ's Audit and Risk Committee to examine issues surrounding the public disclosure of earnings by Tubridy.
The report confirmed that 2017-2019 earning figures for Tubridy were publicly understated due to adjustments made by RTÉ’s financial department and that the Board of RTÉ was correct in restating Tubridy’s publicly disclosed earnings for the period between 2017 and 2019.
It further found that Tubridy nor NK Management had any involvement in the adjustments for the period 2017 – 2019.
The report confirmed that while the earnings were publicly understated, there was no impact on RTÉ’s financial statements as a result of these adjustments.
In response to the report, Tubridy said on Wednesday that he "welcomed" the findings.
“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.”
His statement added: “It is also clear that my actual income from RTÉ in 2020 and 2021 matches what was originally published as my earnings for those years and RTÉ has not yet published its top ten 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.”
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