The revelation came as RTÉ board members and executives were quizzed on Thursday over the Ryan Tubridy payment scandal.
RTÉ’s chief financial officer (CFO) Richard Collins has told a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meeting that he does not know his “exact salary”.
Meanwhile, the broadcaster’s interim deputy director general Adrian Lynch told the meeting, focused around the Ryan Tubridy secret payments scandal, that it is “possible” the presenter may have been aware of concerns surrounding his income when he stepped down as host of The Late Late Show.
In regards to Collins’ comments, he was asked by Sinn Féin TD John Brady how much he is paid as RTÉ CFO.
“I think that’s a private matter,” Collins responded after a moment of hesitation, then adding: “I think we’re going to disclose our earnings.”
After being pressed to answer the question by committee chair Brian Stanley, Collins eventually admitted: “I don’t know what my exact salary is off the top of my head,” leading Fianna Fáil TD James O’Connor to state: “That’s absolutely outrageous. Chief Financial Officer of RTÉ can’t tell us what he’s paid.”
Collins then said he believes that his salary is around €200,000, with an added car allowance of €25,000.
The under fire Ryan Tubridy
Meanwhile, Brady asked Lynch if he still stands over his previous comments that there was no way that Tubridy knew that there were concerns over his income when he announced he was stepping down as Late Late host.
Lynch said he did not, explaining: “I was trying to work out the day the director of content told me that Ryan Tubridy had come into his office to tell him that he was stepping down.
“So, I went back and checked my email because I had sent him an email with a list of potential presenters and that was on, I think it was 13 March.
“I didn’t realise that actually, the CFO had had contact from the auditors on, whatever it was, 10 March or whatever.”
Brady then said: “So, Tubridy could well have been informed by somebody that this process or these concerns had been raised?” to which Lynch responded: “Based on the information yesterday, it’s possible.”
The interim deputy director general’s comments come after Tubridy last week said in a statement that his stepping down from the Late Late Show had nothing to do with issues surrounding his earnings.
Another notable revelation from Thursday’s PAC meeting was that RTÉ used its now under the spotlight barter account to pay €275,000 for hotels, sporting tickets and travel for clients.
Main image via Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie
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