RTE has claimed that ex-Director General Dee Forbes had "all the necessary information" over the RTE payments scandal and that "no illegality” was involved in the undeclared payments to presenter Ryan Tubridy.
In a nine-page statement released this evening by the Interim Deputy Director-General, Adrian Lynch, the national broadcaster tried to explain what lead to its underreporting of payments worth €345,000 to Late Late Show presenter Tubridy.
The statement concluded: “No member of the RTÉ Executive Board, other than the Director General, had all the necessary information in order to understand that the publicly declared figures for Ryan Tubridy could have been wrong.”
However, the statement added that Ms Forbes has not yet had the opportunity to respond to the details set out in its statement and may “therefore challenge or disagree with our understanding and position”.
Read more: RTE staff 'let down and betrayed' as they demand reform amid Ryan Tubridy pay scandal
Mr Lynch added that the Director General has "final approval of fees to be paid to RTÉ’s top 10 most highly paid on-air presenters." His statement said that external legal advice has been received that arising from the findings of a review by accountants Grant Thornton, that there was “no illegality and payments were made pursuant to an agreed contract” by the parties involved.
Mr Lynch said that the payments scandal has been a "serious breach of trust" with the public, the Oireachtas and RTE staff. He added: "I, as Deputy Director General, on behalf of the RTÉ Executive, would like to again apologise unreservedly".
RTE continued to say: "While the public disclosure of Ryan Tubridy’s earnings as part of the annual publication of top 10 presenter fees was incorrect, all payments associated with his earnings were reconciled in RTE’s published accounts.
"It is important to note that RTE has not restated its annual accounts for any of the years 2017-2022 and does not need to restate. External legal advice has been received that on the basis of the Grant Thorton findings there was no illegality and payments were made pursuant to an agreed contract.
“Based on the review completed by Grant Thornton and a review of the relevant documentation and correspondence, this report sets out RTÉ’s understanding of what happened, how it happened, and who was responsible for different aspects of the arrangements.
"It should be noted that the former Director General, Ms Dee Forbes, save for comments provided to Grant Thornton in the compilation of its review, has not had the opportunity to respond to the details set out below and may therefore challenge or disagree with our understanding and position."
The Grant Thornton review also says there there were no findings of wrongdoing on the part of Ryan Tubridy over any payments made to him by RTE. It reads: "Ryan Tubridy was not aware of the credit note provided by RTÉ to the commercial partner.”
RTE's board were informed of the results of the fact-finding review on Monday. Earlier today, RTE journalists who are members of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) said they felt 'let down and betrayed' as they protested outside the broadcaster's office in Donnybrook.
Ms Forbes will not appear before the Oireachtas Media Committee on Wednesday due to ill health.
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