Ryan Tubridy will be fighting to save his broadcasting career at two box office committee meetings in Leinster House today.
The highest-paid star in RTE is set to face a double grilling over the secret payments scandal he is at the heart of.
The 50-year-old will appear at two sessions that are expected to last more than six hours in total.
And he goes in there without the backing of new RTE chief Kevin Bakhurst, who on his first day in the job would not guarantee Mr Tubridy will be returning to the air.
The nation will be transfixed with the RTE News channel and Oireachtas TV both showing the proceedings live, which will enable almost any home in the country to tune in.
It can also be watched on the Oireachtas official website, or via the app on smartphones or tablets.
And pubs are even opening especially to show the proceedings in a move normally saved for early morning sports events.
Some of the pubs in Dublin set to throw the doors open will include Toners on Baggot Street, the Camden Deluxe on Camden Street, Clonliffe House near another past scene of box office sports events, Croke Park, and the famous McGrattans bar, which is the nearest bar to the Dail, lying in the shadows of Leinster House on Fitzwilliam Lane.
The first of the two committee sessions set to grill Tubridy and his agent, Noel Kelly, is the high-powered Government spending watchdog committee, the Public Accounts Committee.
This kicks off at 10.30am with a quick private session before the two star witnesses, and their lawyer Hayes Solicitors Managing Partner Joe O’Malley, are expected to be called into Committee Room One shortly before 11am.
Read more: Dublin pubs to broadcast Ryan Tubridy and agent's appearance before Public Accounts Committee
This is expected to last three hours, giving Mr Tubridy a short break before he is due up for another session at the Media Committee, due to kick off at 3pm.
Yesterday when Mr Bakhurst was asked if Tubridy will continue to be paid while off air, he said: “I expect so. I mean I’m not involved in the detail. He’s out of contract as we know. There are discussions going on with his agent about that. But we will have to review that. I mean, we have to make a decision on Ryan soon, anyway.”
Mr Bakhurst declined to reveal how much Tubridy is being paid while off, saying: “I can’t tell you that because I don’t think it’s been agreed at the moment. There is still an ongoing discussion with his agent on that exact amount.”
But Mr Bakhurst said that he has to take in “major consideration” if staff will want to work with Tubs again. He said he hasn’t spoken to Tubridy since the scandal of €345,000 non-disclosure of payments emerged. The new RTE boss said: “I’ve made it really clear, I want to hear the views of staff and I want to respect the views of staff and they should be allowed a voice as my time as Director General.
“I will talk to staff amongst other people and the leadership group and then we will make a decision.”
He said he “wishes Ryan well” if Tubridy took up opportunities elsewhere as he confirms he hasn’t made a decision about his future at the station. “I do wish him well.. It is a tough media market in the UK at the moment and so it is not going to be straightforward but good luck to him if there is.”
Mr Bakhurst was asked if he thought talent boss Kelly and other agents had too much influence negotiating salaries for their clients. He replied: “On the question of the agent, I don’t want to single out an individual agent.
"I don’t think it’s personally healthy that any single agent has such power in any particular country. We will be looking at our future relationships with agents and how we deal with them.”
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