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28th Jun 2023

Patrick Kielty reaches out to RTÉ about making Late Late Show fee public

Simon Kelly

The announcement comes following calls for full salary transparency.

New Late Late Show host Patrick Kielty is reportedly keen to make his presenting fee public, once it goes through the appropriate processes.

According to RTÉ, the broadcaster and Kielty are revisiting the issues of making it public.

Interim deputy director general Adrian Lynch told the Oireachtas Committee on Wednesday that RTÉ was willing to publish the figures, if Kielty was on board.

The announcement comes after there were calls for the new host’s salary to be published amidst the ongoing scandal surrounding former host Ryan Tubridy and undisclosed payments made to him.

Tubridy stepped down from his role in March and Kielty was announced as his replacement in May after a drawn-out, drama-filled process, where multiple candidates publicly turned down the gig.

At an event held last weekend in Belfast in which Kielty held a discussion with former world champion boxer Carl Frampton, the future Late Late presenter was asked about the recent revelations from the RTÉ Board.

However, he declined to comment on the situation and simply replied with, “I’d need a few more beers before I could talk about that.”

RTÉ board under fire in Oireachtas Committee

Mattie McGrath RTE

Seven RTÉ representatives were questioned at the Oireachtas Media Committee on Wednesday in an exhaustive investigation into the ongoing scandal which has seen Director General Dee Forbes resign from her role and hundreds of employees stage protests.

The meeting was streamed live and included some heated moments, including Independent TD Mattie McGrath calling for a Gardai investigation into the RTÉ payments scandal, claiming that the broadcaster is taking the public “for patsies and fools”.

The TD also added that, “Putin wouldn’t get away with some of the tricks you got away with.”

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