RTÉ admits paying Tubridy €345,000 more than declared

It's how a business works, you know. Laughable stuff.

Of course, everything you say is correct. Hiding behind well-known business networking terms to use it to live a life well-beyond their means, pay people under the counter, and falsify public pay records.

How to run a business 😂

Any idea where I can view these Government guidelines on events?

Your tender example is the wrong way around. It's not RTE tendering for someone else to provide a service, it's RTE trying to offer its services to clients, i.e. schmoozing clients to get them to buy advertising slots. Neither A or B would lose out in this situation due to client schmoozing. They both could buy advertising slots. Nothing illegal there.

You haven't a clue mate. Not a clue.

How to run a business. As reported in The Sunday Times:

One source who spoke on condition of anonymity said: “Astus became a verb. On occasion, more members of RTE attended events than clients.”

It was also used to cover the cost of taking advertising clients to concerts by the Eagles, Harry Styles and Westlife. Food and drink were laid on, often at up to €53.30 a head. Some events were attended by more members of the commercial team than by guests.

“It is clear the barter account became a vehicle for concealment,” said Timmy Dooley, a member of the Oireachtas media committee.

The concealment began in February 2020 when RTE executives were renegotiating Tubridy’s contract. They found that an extra €120,000 had been credited to his account in the previous three years, while he under-delivered on his contractual obligations.

Tubridy had inexplicably been paid €20,000 more in 2017 and an extra €50,000 in both 2018 and 2019. These transactions have yet to be explained and are the subject of a review by the consultancy Grant Thornton.

The key word there is 'corruptly'. Corporate entertainment isn't illegal.

Fair points except that Civil S rates would make it very hard to live in D4 for many.

Also, crucial going forward, to state the obvious, RTE requires a super strong risk management/ internal audit team. They need a very sensitive system that can control the input, processing, and output stage, monitoring all finance operations.

You could take several of those slots inc Tubridys straight after the morning news, stick in virtual unknowns and they'd return similar figures. We don't need RTE's concept of Irish celebrities to host them.

Yeah.. you'd need to have some little sympathy for the Burkes, having people putting the boot into them day after day. Just for standing up for their own principles.

Tubridy's principles on the other hand were more to do with maximising his income and to hell with how the money was accounted.

One has morals they stand by, the other morally corrupt!

The crux of it all for me is why pay these salaries for a few hours on radio a week? Its not like there is huge competition for them, they won't get the money anywhere else. Who else would pay RT 500k a year? He's so bland and doesn't evoke any emotion in his conversations with anyone. Would Virgin or Newstalk be lining up for RTE's top "talent" if they were out of contract? I know they took Pat Kenny but that was early days while establishing.

ADVICE ON COVID AND BUSINESS ANYONE?

RTÉ presenter Ryan Tubridy's agent was in receipt of significant Covid-19 supports when he engaged in the now-infamous scheme to hide a significant chunk of his biggest client's earnings.

Business and Revenue records confirm talent agent Noel Kelly received hundreds of thousands of euro from the Government's Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) between 2020 and 2022.

Mr Kelly's businesses also received a grant from the Government's Live Performance Support Scheme during the same period to organise a music event.

In all, these taxpayer-funded Covid-19 supports contributed at least €492,000 to firms owned jointly by Mr Kelly and his wife Catriona.

While in receipt of these grants, Mr Kelly was putting RTÉ under pressure to pay Ryan Tubridy's secret top-ups - at a time when all other staff had their pay cut by 15%.

Since 2020, two of Mr Kelly's firms - Cleary Consultancy Ltd and Century Merchandising Services Ltd - have benefited from these supports.

Both firms were listed as recipients in Revenue's 2020 list of those afforded EWSS support.

Mr Kelly's businesses also received a grant from the Government's Live Performance Support Scheme during the same period to organise a music event.

Century Merchandising Services Ltd was listed as a recipient in 2021 and 2022.

According to filed accounts for the company, Century Merchandising Services received €492,000 in Government grants up to the end of March 2022.

This amount is likely to include a Live Performance Support Scheme grant of €68,759, awarded for a three-night concert in the Bord Gáis Theatre with the renowned soprano Celine Byrne, who is understood to be a client of Mr Kelly's.

According to the company's accounts, profits at Century Merchandising Services increased during Covid as employees grew from 15 to 23 between 2021 and 2022.

The company posted a €177,000 profit in the year ending March 2021, at which point it had retained earnings of €479,000. The following year it posted a €230,000 profit and increased its earnings to €709,000.

During this time, Mr Kelly and his wife shared remuneration payments of €176,000 in 2021 and €184,000 in 2022.

The couple's other main firm, Cleary Consulting Ltd, also increased profits during Covid, paying the couple €136,000 in 2021 and €114,000 the following year.

The MoS asked Mr Kelly and his wife whether any of the Covid-19 supports had been repaid since their profits had increased.

However, they chose not to respond.

Yes, but the key is was it illegal? Being “carefree” and even “reckless” with public money isn’t always illegal. It’s the system that allows it.. that’s not to say it’s not “wrong,” just that it is designed for abuse, I guess.

That's hard to believe - if true it's shocking and conjures up the image of pigs at the trough.