RTÉ admits paying Tubridy €345,000 more than declared

downtheroad · 24-06-2023 9:42am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120758009#Comment_120758009

Audits don't look at every single transaction. Also the junior auditors doing most of the donkey work get paid appalling salaries and are expected to work stupid hours, so aren't exactly 100% focused on the task. And the higher ups are busy maintaining the relationship with the client to protect the hefty fees they charge.

Audits are barely worth the paper they're written on.

ButtersSuki · 24-06-2023 9:44am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120757964#Comment_120757964

I do think that’s a possibility at this stage, yes. I know they expected some backlash over this but you can tell from the reaction that they’re surprised.

Then how it’s been handled has added to this. First we had NKM and Tubs come out with their two fingered unapologetic “nothing to do with me” messages, then a swift backtrack to #ContriteTubs and sad face “I did a bad thing but it’s really RTE’s fault” apology which also did more harm than good and raises even more questions. Even is his “apology” he refuses to take the blame, shifting it mostly onto RTÉ. He had a chance to save himself with a full apology, take the blame, offer to donate the money to charity etc., but no, “it’s not really my fault, it’s those bad eggs in RTÉ” . I don’t know who is scoring him, but they have judged this VERY badly from a PR perspective.

You have the board running scared and refusing to go to tv or radio, then the Chaireoman neglecting yo mention the DG was suspended and now they wonder why trust is broken.

But there’s an interpersonal issue here too. Ryan will be hated and despised for his underhand behaviour by the rank and file RTÉ staffers, who are the majority of the staff there. I think it will be very difficult for him to swam into Montrose at 8:45 snd leave before 10 news every morning knowing he is so hated.

hometruths · 24-06-2023 9:44am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120757930#Comment_120757930

It's huge money I agree but at least with Pat Kenny at his peak it is a plausible argument that he commanded a big salary because of what he could potentially earn in other markets - eg UK.

Pat Kenny set the bar for the Late Late Show salary and passed the baton to Tubridy.

That's the only reason Tubridy was ever earning 800k a year. There was never any danger of him making it big in the BBC.

In 2019 when the 15% cuts were being pushed on RTE staff, Ryan was only to happy to take one for team:

And as he spoke of the homeless crisis that is gripping Ireland, he said he would accept RTE cost-cutting measures gracefully.

Tubs added: “I’ve taken a pay cut before. I took over 30% the last time and they’ve asked for more again which will bring it up to about 45% or (so) since I took the Late Late Show.

“When it comes to this sort of issue, that’s not something I’ve ever been found wanting in and that continues to be the case, yeah.”

So as well as claiming what a great fellow he was for agreeing to take a pay cut from Kenny's salary, he never actually took the 15% pay cut he told everyone he was so keen to take.

What a gent.

https://www.irishmirror.ie/showbiz/irish-showbiz/ryan-tubridy-pay-cut-rte-20926686

ButtersSuki · 24-06-2023 9:46am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120758185#Comment_120758185

Dishonest and not telling the truth, but not a liar according to some. 🙄

Cluedo Monopoly · 24-06-2023 9:46am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120758076#Comment_120758076

That's where he let himself down the most. He knew his published salary was wrong but he never questioned it. Wilfully. He apologised for that but the damage is done.

I cannot see him on the radio again but RTE may need to pay him off.

hotmail.com · 24-06-2023 9:50am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120758194#Comment_120758194

Depends on when his contract is up for renewal. They can just choose not to renew it. Knowing his financial luck, he probably only signed a new contract recently.

Xander10 · 24-06-2023 9:50am

Year --published --actual-----Difference

2017 - €491,677 - €511,677 - +€20,000

2018 - €495,000 - €545,000 - +€50,000

2019 - €495,000 - €545,000 - +€50,000

2020 - €466,250 - €522,500 - +€56,250

2021 - €440,000 - €515,000 - +€75,000

2022 - €440,000 - €515,000 - +€75,000

So his actual pay in 2022 was higher than in 2017. Some pay cut that is!

The greed of it all.

I presume he declared the actual figures to Revenue.

kneemos · 24-06-2023 9:51am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120758009#Comment_120758009

Well if they informed management it was them that created the agreement.

If it's not illegal they've no reason to do any more presumably.

ButtersSuki · 24-06-2023 9:57am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120758211#Comment_120758211

If they do nothing they will be disbanded. This is public money. There’s a reason people are outraged.

kippy · 24-06-2023 10:00am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120758211#Comment_120758211

What's changed this year though that has highlighted the practise? It's obvious RT saw this coming and knew there would be outrage. One wonders why it's been pitted this year above any other.

LambshankRedemption · 24-06-2023 10:08am

In 2009 I moved abroad but I missed home so used to listen to more RTE than I had ever before. Saturday evening I'd watch the Late late, and I'll be honest I do like Pat Kenny though I acknowledge he is hopeless with anything entertainment/celeb/gossip. I'd listen to Morning Ireland going to work, and would tune into Liveline for my sins in the afternoon. Then Ryan took over from Pat on the late late. I lasted about 3 weeks and gave up. I didn't like the new format. I think he's a cringy interviewer. Pat was bad at entertainment stuff but excels at current affairs. Ryan is bad at all of them and seems to ask the same four questions no matter what the topic.

So, Like Butters, this is not a knee jerk reaction from me. Ive never liked the guy.

mariaalice · 24-06-2023 10:13am

How many other presenters or journalists are on individual contracts in RTE?

kneemos · 24-06-2023 10:17am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120758289#Comment_120758289

RTE must know if there are any.

No doubt they would have informed the public already before it's dragged out of them.

walshb · 24-06-2023 10:18am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120758268#Comment_120758268

I rate him very low as regards an interviewer and broadcaster, but I am not using that as some stick to beat in with here as regards this affair.

This, to me is a huge over-dramatised affair.

and can we not let the investigation conclude before we start calling for hangings.

kazamo · 24-06-2023 10:19am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120758009#Comment_120758009

What makes you so sure it was an Audit issue before 2022. The issue is a report on top 10 earners issued by RTE which is not audit related.

In 2022 RTE made a payment of 150k with no indication yet that it was offset by an invoice. If this contra/clearance account had been cleared, the likelihood of detecting it would be low.

The focus should be on the RTE Finance Department and I suspect someone in there had enough of this or wasn’t prepared to cover it up.

24-06-2023 10:24am

One major thing that will come out of this is how one specific agent/agency has been controlling the media, including social media, to some degree. Questions are going to be asked as how this came about. To me it’s a speck sinister, tbh.

Leg End Reject · 24-06-2023 10:28am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120757983#Comment_120757983

But as Ryan has insisted, his sudden decision to step down from the LLS had, of course, absolutely nothing to do with the fact this was going to be exposed.

No siree ...

cheezums · 24-06-2023 10:31am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120758209#Comment_120758209

Wow this paints a very damning picture. As tubbers was nobly accepting pay cuts to do his bit for the country, he was getting topped up off the books presumably to keep him sweet. **** hell.

RTE has always been a cesspool of entitlement and sanctimonious finger wagging, abolish it entirely, no one under the age of 70 would really give a ****. The idea that we need a state funded broadcaster to be a paragon of virtue and balance, telling us the correct way to feel outraged about things is a misguided naive nanny state nonsense, especially when it's just a FF and to a lesser extent FG mouthpiece ever since its inception. And doubly so when the correct topic of outrage should be RTE/FF/FG themselves.

Expunge · 24-06-2023 10:32am

I'm surprised we haven't heard of any big name advertisers pull their custom from RTE until these matters have been resolved.

Surely it's not a good look for some of these financial institutions to be associated with a dishonestly run company

ButtersSuki · 24-06-2023 10:38am

This is not sone isolated incident. This was a scheme concocted by two parties (one of whom is someone in RTE apparently acting independently of the board, and the other is Tubs and/or is his agent acting on his behalf) to siphon funds to him in a manner to make up for cuts he claimed to take and sought publicity and credit for. And this has been going on for at least half a decade. All of that is factual.

And that I suspect is the tip of the iceberg with likely more damning evidence to appear on the agent’s other clients (given what’s in the papers today).

How much evidence do you need?

ButtersSuki · 24-06-2023 10:39am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120758312#Comment_120758312

This is not sone isolated incident. This was a scheme concocted by two parties (one of whom is someone in RTE apparently acting independently of the board, and the other is Tubs and/or is his agent acting on his behalf) to siphon funds to him in a manner to make up for cuts he claimed to take and sought publicity and credit for. And this has been going on for at least half a decade. All of that is factual.

And that I suspect is the tip of the iceberg with likely more damning evidence to appear on the agent’s other clients (given what’s in the papers today).

How much evidence do you need?

note: apologies for the double post, I wanted to quote the list I was replying to for context.

freshpopcorn · 24-06-2023 10:39am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120757550#Comment_120757550

He's been called names in public and there's a video floating around of one of the incidents.

People in every job from shop assistant to surgeon can get called names at work or in public for whatever reason by people.

It's not right but it's life we don't live in a perfect World.

Most just get on with it and they don't have Ryan's platform to talk about it.

Personally I think the teenager hurt Ryan because in his eye the lad viewed him of The Toyman a few years before.

What you've also to remember is how would Ryan have reacted if anybody got themselves into hot water. In my opinion he'd throw them under the bus.

ButtersSuki · 24-06-2023 10:40am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120758353#Comment_120758353

There was a report yesterday that 2 had expressed concern at this. Renault were one, I can’t recall the other at this point.

downtheroad · 24-06-2023 10:40am

Dee Forbes Director General being suspended, despite being on annual leave and her contract expiring in a few weeks, is not a token gesture. She knew about this, and whatever else is to surface now that the journalists are chasing down every angle of this story, and the RTE board are scrambling to save face now.

24-06-2023 10:43am

https://twitter.com/ryantuprettyrte/status/1672540547343433728?s=46&t=LbNX7bxyxl_3B8DnynfQnQ

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Count Dracula · 24-06-2023 10:46am

RTE should be sued for deliberately falsifying accounts and the Auditors should be reprimanded and reported to the Director of Corporate Enforcement.

it was done on each occasion to keep Tubridy's annual salary below the 1/2 million mark, which is what he has been paid for the last 5 years.

RYAN TUBRIDY got paid 2.5 million Euro since the start of the Pandemic.

sliabh 1956 · 24-06-2023 10:47am

I see Billy Keane has come out and asked us all not to be too harsh on Tubs. I wonder will all those people now come forth especially the ones he gave inordinate amount time over the years but had little or nothing to contribute except they were handy to wheel out when a frontline guest failed to show up.

24-06-2023 10:52am

I’m falling over laughing at the juxtaposition of Tubridy with David Attenborough, one of the world’s most respected specialist broadcasters and an icon who will forever have his place in the global history of broadcasting. It’s comedic.

24-06-2023 11:02am

I think nothing gets the ire of people more than lies, falsehood, pretence, fakery, show-boating, posturing, call it all what you want. It annoys the guts out of me, I call it out where I even get the whiff of it, I shine a torch in it through satire or direct comment. I love when it’s exposed. I don’t think I’m unique much.

24-06-2023 11:03am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120758381#Comment_120758381

Center Parcs expressed concerns

RTÉ admits paying Tubridy €345,000 more than declared

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