RTÉ admits paying Tubridy €345,000 more than declared

Plenty of consumers are more than happy to get the "cash price" from tradespeople, which is always ex VAT and also not declared for income tax.

In a nutshell this kind of stuff is extremely questionable, this ‘car ambassador’ stuff.

Implicitly it puts an onus on the recipient not to badmouth the product or the company and when one has the very powerful and influential position of a mic on the National Broacaster ,that can be very very important.

Thats why Car companies are not offering Beemers to me and you to drive around in.

The inevitable request for the ‘small favour’ will come in, however small, and if you are ‘in hock’ to the company it’s very very difficult to refuse.

One in positions of influence in Media Outlets especially employees as opposed to contractors, should know that

and not be whoring themselves to every opportunity that knocks on their door, because of their position.

Thats when credibility and responsible broadcasting goes out the window.

So Tubridy lied in his statement did he? He said he should have owned up.

Was he lying then or lying now?

You assign no fault whatsoever to Tubridy in that?

RTE didn't "want" to pay him that way. They paid him that way under the counter. Tubridy and NK well knew the public uproar that would ensue if the payments were declared. If you imagine Tubridy as a public affairs commentator wasn't aware of that, then you must really think him clueless at his job.

They colluded in the scheme. We may well find NK instigated the scheme.

We don't "really want it to be the fault" - we're calling it as we see it. Of course RTE are to blame but Tubridy isn't blameless. Tubridy's reputation is in tatters, deservedly so.

The motor tax, insurance, service costs and fuel expenses all need to be closely investigated also.

Plenty of other "brand ambassadors" for car brands and dealerships in Ireland, all very publicly announced. Many Dublin GAA footballers drive around in branded vehicles. I suspect Revenue will now be looking at this with interest.

Fianna Fáil Senator Timmy Dooley has said that RTÉ GAA Commentator Marty Morrissey was “unfairly and unnecessarily” pulled into the RTÉ pay controversy at the Oireachtas PAC meeting on Thursday.

Senator Dooley told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland that his questions at the PAC meeting had queried who in RTÉ was getting paid a car allowance out of licence fees? Were there people getting a car allowance who did not have a car or even a driver’s licence? “But for some reason, RTÉ management decided to create this notion about an individual who had a car loan, etc., etc., creating a level of hype and it required Marty Morrissey then to effectively clarify the situation. “In his case, he’s not getting a car allowance. And so his situation didn’t relate to the question that was asked. And neither is he a car ambassador. So I’m sort of somewhat confused as to why RTÉ management decided to create a situation for Marty that required him to come out now and clarify the situation.”

When it was pointed out that Ryan Tubridy had been taken off air because of the controversy, Senator Dooley said that the two situations were entirely different. In the Tubridy case significant payments were made “in a clandestine way” that effectively hid the payments.

“Marty Morrissey has gotten nothing from RTÉ, from the license holder other than his salary. So therefore, quite frankly, he has been pulled into this controversy, I think unfairly and unnecessarily.” It had been a car loan, no licence fee funds were involved, no RTÉ money was involved “He has been paid for the work that he has done. And yes, he had an arrangement, as he said in relation to the loan of a car. He has explained that and they are two entirely different situations.

“I think we’ve got to be careful through all of this in trying to get to the bottom of resolving the culture in RTÉ that we don’t scapegoat people. And I think the same applies to some extent to Ryan, probably because they’re high profile names.

“They get outed and people make comments and they get somewhat carried away in public discourse. At the end of the day, somebody at senior management in RTÉ signed off on Ryan Tubridy’s contract. That wasn’t Ryan Tubridy’s fault, quite frankly, himself and his agent or his agent on his behalf, sought to do the best deal they could, unwise perhaps that they’ve pushed it so far, but not nothing wrong with somebody trying to fight to get the greatest deal for themselves.”

Marty Morrissey has an income outside of RTE. He's probably Ireland's best know sports broadcaster and as such does a few gigs a year here and there. This would be taxable income and I'd be very surprised if he doesn't have an accountant dealing with that income. I'd be even more surprised if the accountant hadn't asked him at some stage about things like the car and other perks he might have gotten. That would normally be an issue for Revenue to ensure he is compliant and nothing to do with RTE or us. Whilst he drove a Renault on some programme a couple of years ago, I have never associated him with the brand in any way and I'd be a very ardent GAA man.

Where it gets complicated is the mileage he would have been claiming and how that was done. Was he simply refunded his petrol receipts or did he have a mileage rate. He does some serious travelling, often covering 2-3 matches in a weekend. As of yet there is no question that he behaved improperly with regards to Revenue. As far as we know it was all declared. What i do find odd is that he didn't have a company car. Any rep doing his mileage for an ordinary company would get one.

What is odd is the timing of handing back the car. He did it on the 23rd, this story broke on the 22nd. That's an odd thing to do and it's not just a coincidence.

FWIW on the basis that I've never heard the man mention Renault I don't have an issue with it, but it's obvious he received it as payment for his MC job. At this stage it's for Revenue, they'll decide what's right and what isn't.

There should also be an RTE investigation to verify if any of the codes of conduct that applied at the time were breached.

Did Timmy Dooley ring Morning Ireland asking to get on, or did Morning Ireland contact him.

Either way, he realises he's responsible for one of Clare's most beloved son's getting a load of bad press the last couple of days. The Bannermen don't like that. Dooley knows this won't be forgotten at the next election and is trying to minimise damage. He's as slimy a coward as the rest of them.

This whole RTE saga has a long long way to go yet and a lot more toes will be stepped on in the meantime.

He knows he has got Bakhurst in. He thinks now he has leapt the fence.

Exactly.

Is Suin and Doherty telling the committee you can't trust these leaks from the executive board? You're being set up long term.

Committee is better off if it works with NUJ leaks only... and they might need to tighten that circle.

I think you're giving Dooley too much credit. I don't think this was some strategic sleuthing based on inside information. He was blindly shooting into the dark with his line of question, thinking it makes him look like he's asking the tough questions, and if anything lands it's a bonus. He didn't factor in hitting one of his mates, a very popular one at that, and now he's desperately trying to cover his and Morrissey's arse.

Dooley's backtracking and very public support for Morrissey calls into question his impartiality and suitability to be a member of the Joint Committee.

Dooley already lost his seat at the last general election.

Unfortunately the powers that be deemed him worthy of a seat in the Seanad.