Payments controversy is 'not the Ryan Tubridy scandal, it is the RTÉ scandal' 

Mr Kelly said his client had been blamed for what had happened because “he was the only recognisable face in all of this”.

Reading his opening statement, which detailed seven alleged “untruths” regarding the saga over €345,000 in payments which were not publicly acknowledged by RTÉ, Mr Tubridy insisted the deal with Renault was “far from being secret, it was well known”.

He cited an email which the pair on Tuesday submitted to the committee which appeared to show that RTÉ’s former chief financial officer Breda O’Keeffe had said RTÉ would underwrite the commercial arrangement with Renault in February 2020, something at odds with Ms O’Keeffe’s statements to the media committee the week before.

RTÉ has rejected the claim "that an incorrect version of events was presented" to the Oireachtas.

'Horrendous abuse'

Mr Kelly described the “horrendous abuse” he and Mr Tubridy have received in recent weeks, saying he “wouldn’t wish it on anybody”.

Asked whether he had any concerns regarding the “optics” of the Renault deal, Mr Tubridy said, “to be honest, I say to Noel, you do your job, and I do mine”. 

“I trusted the process," he said.

Mr Kelly insisted that “in no way whatsoever” had he or his company initiated the Renault deal which has caused so much controversy. He added the so-called tripartite deal with Renault and RTÉ “was a separate contract for separate services”, and had nothing to do with Mr Tubridy’s deal for TV and radio presenting services.

He said his request for a guarantee that Mr Tubridy’s pay would not be reduced over the duration of his new five-year contract from 2020 “was quite simple”. 

“It was never for RTÉ to pay it, it was in case the sponsor changed".

Mr Tubridy insisted repeatedly his exit announcement from The Late Late Show on March 16 bore no relation to the fact the Renault deal was being investigated by consultants Grant Thornton.

The presenter, who has been off air since the controversy broke on June 22, presented an emotional figure on a number of occasions, smacking the desk before him for emphasis repeatedly.

In one instance, asked why it had taken until the morning of committee for documents to be sent to PAC, Mr Tubridy replied: “The last three weeks have been chaotic, destructive, beyond difficult, all I’ll say is we wanted to get things right today because so many people have been getting things wrong."

Mr Kelly, meanwhile, denied having a close relationship with former RTÉ director general Dee Forbes, saying he does not have her phone number.

"I've never had a cup of tea with Dee Forbes. I don't know Dee Forbes," he said, despite the fact according to RTÉ Ms Forbes negotiated the Tubridy deal personally, and that former CFO Richard Collins had said he “took comfort” regarding the deal given Ms Forbes’ “close” relationship with Mr Kelly.

"I understand that the money we're talking about is eye-watering. I'm not a fool," Mr Tubridy said of the deal. He asked the gathered politicians not “conflate someone being well paid with someone not having a conscience”.

“My name has been desperately sullied. My reputation is sullied. It’s hard to leave the house to be honest. I’ve spent three weeks watching people tell stories. I’m not looking for sympathy, or a violin," Mr Tubridy said.

He insisted, however, that he wishes to return to presenting “as soon as possible”.

“I don't have any doubt, I want to go back to work on the radio. I don't say that with any arrogance. It's what I do. I want to get back to my team,” he said.