Ryan Tubridy will face day-long grilling at two Oireachtas committees on Tuesday
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Ryan Tubridy will face a day-long grilling at two Oireachtas committees on Tuesday.
Mr Tubridy and his agent Noel Kelly have made themselves available to both the Dáil Public Accounts Committee and the Media Committee. Both will take up the offer, with the PAC discussing the issue on Tuesday morning and the Media Committee taking over in the afternoon.
The pair are aiming to put to bed the controversy surrounding misstated payments made by RTÉ to Mr Tubridy between 2017 and 2022.
A letter via their solicitor, sent to media committee chair Niamh Smyth, states that both Mr Tubridy and Mr Kelly wish to “fully co-operate and assist” with the Oireachtas investigations into RTÉ expenditure and governance issues.
“They believe that they have important information that will assist the committee in its examination of these issues and clarify a number of matters that have been raised.”
A booklet of relevant documents will be prepared in advance of Mr Tubridy and Mr Kelly appearing, which will be circulated among TDs before the meeting. It comes following another bruising day for the national broadcaster yesterday at the media committee.
Media Minister Catherine Martin is holding an emergency meeting today with incoming Deputy General (DG) Kevin Bakhurst, interim DG Adrian Lynch and Chair of the Board Siún Ní Raghallaigh. The drip feed of information has further eroded the board’s “trust and confidence in the executive” and now the board has requested “swift action be taken,” the chair said.
However, sacking RTÉ’s Executive board could leave the State open to legal battles and significant payouts, according to senior government sources.
With pressure mounting for heads to roll, the Government is fearful direct intervention now could backfire ahead of the conclusion of the three independent reviews underway into the hidden payments scandal at the State broadcaster.