RTÉ admits paying Tubridy €345,000 more than declared

Are there any demographic breakdowns of Tubridy's radio audience? It would not be unthinkable that pensioners were overrepresented. Virgin had better hope that its audience takes to Tubridy's "Mid Morning Matters".

Regards...jmcc

Yes , RT may not have broken any law . And as you pointed out legally and contractually everything is clearly ok . But I would suggest that if he EVER makes an attempt - or noises to that effect - to try and get back into RTE , that RTE should not even acknowledge the approach until that €150,000 ie returned with NO CONDITIONS ATTACHED

During the summer, Judge Halpin of the Dublin District Court made headlines when he criticised RTE as “elitist” for their financial mismanagement while them general public were legally forced to fund them via the TV licence. I’m sure this gave more than a few people the courage to defy the payment.

Then in September, he directed the Garda Commissioner to prioritise arresting licence evader court no- shows, so they could be brought before him.

The courts are independent of the Government, and very clearly on the side of applying the law, irrespective of how unpopular it might be or detrimental to any particular politicians.

And it all goes to create anger in the electorate. That's the bottom line for the government. The independence of the judiciary and courts does not matter when votes are involved. They are two very different things. It would be playing into the hands of the opposition by creating angry anti-FFG voters. The government might announce some kind of "consultation" rather than have an electoral disaster from angry non-payers. Remember that there may be more than one person of voting age in the houses of non-payers so the effect would be amplified. The politicians would be well aware of that.

Regards...jmcc

I think that it is dated to the time that the licence fee demand was issued.

Regards...jmcc

If you’re renewing a licence, it’s dated from the time of the expiry of your previous licence. So if your old licence was up in April 2023, and you pay it in January 2024, you’ll still be liable to pay it again in April 2024. When you think about it, it couldn’t work any other way.

That just illustrates the moral dubiousness of not paying the licence fee. The only people it hurts are innocent people and their families.

Eh, then you both have a licence that you’re liable for. Not a good plan.

The only way to cancel your licence is to fill out the declaration that you don’t have a TV. If you don’t actually have one, then you would have done this anyway and wouldn’t be paying the licence in the first place. If you do have a TV and declare you don’t, then you risk having a TV licence inspector checking your house, and ending up in court for either non payment, a false declaration, or obstruction (if you don’t let them in).

Some people are up to playing these kinds of games for no real gain, but most aren’t.

Had Tubridy handed back the 150k, apologised, all would likely have been forgiven and the situation wouldn't have arisen. There certainly wouldn't have been endless rounds of Oireachtas committee hearings. However he did at least in a roundabout way convince us all that RTE is a basketcase.

Don't worry about me- I've done it loads of times in the past. Used get about 18 months on average out of a one year license.

Brother in law even got one for me one year😂

I know one thing for certain. Tubridy's mentor and broadcasting hero Gay Byrne would never have knowingly been mixed up in a payment scam to get secret salary top-ups over and above his published salary, while his colleagues in the RTE canteen were subject to cuts on top of cuts....

And if he had had a cute hoor agent who cooked it up behind his back, I'm absolutely certain Gay Byrne's first move would have been an offer to repay it or make a charitable donation in lieu. That because, like many of that generation, he was a man of honour and decency. Which is why he got caught out so badly by his own financial fiasco.

It does indeed say much about the (lack of) character of the man, that the only way that "Renault" money was getting repaid was as part of a new cushy deal to guarantee Tubs another 5 years suckling on the RTE teet. Once that opportunity vanished, that scam money was never going to be seen again.

There is no disconnect between RTE's financial mismanagement and the Tubridy scandal. People follow stories relating to personalities. The enormous hole in RTE's licence fee take is almost solely to do with Tubridy himself, his total ineptitude at PR, his arrogance and shameless refusal to accept any blame and his perpetual victim status. And the missing €150k is a huge part of it. Had this been just a faceless scandal about, lets say the Toy show musical, I know full well the damage being suffered by RTE would be a fraction of what it is today. People don't pay attention anymore to empty corporate suits getting caught out wasting money or lining their own pockets. We've got decades of previous form with that old tale. But when the sainted Toyman get's caught with Santa's money in his bank account, then people do pay attention and they use the only tool they have available to them to make a protest. Withholding the licence fee.

Which is why he got caught out so badly by his own financial fiasco.

He was a property speculator, what caught him out was greed and stupid investments.

I have no doubt we all lost money paying back his folly too.