Marc Ó Cathasaigh TD has said the public are “shattered” by the RTÉ payments scandal.
Ryan Tubridy and his agent Noel Kelly are set to face six hours of questioning by two Oireachtas Committees today.
The pair will appear before the Public Accounts Committee at 11.30am, and the Media Committee at 3pm.
In his address to Ryan and Noel, Mr Ó Cathasaigh said he trusts the presenter is aware that “79% of the Irish population” listen to the radio daily.
The TD stated: “When you told us we were all in it together during COVID-19 and the recessions – we believed you.”
“We were shattered [when this scandal came to light].”
Ryan apologised that Mr Ó Cathasaigh felt that way, but insisted: “This is what today’s all about… rebuilding that trust.”
RTÉ was plunged into chaos when it was revealed that Ryan’s earnings were publicly understated by €345,000 over the last six years.
The issue was identified during a routine audit of RTÉ’s 2022 accounts, prompting an independent review of the matter.
The RTÉ Board issued an apology over the error, and later Ryan also apologised for not questioning RTÉ over his published earnings.
The scandal resulted in the suspension of RTÉ’s Director General Dee Forbes, who later resigned from her role.
Earlier this month, the RTÉ Board and executives arrived at Leinster House to provide evidence to the joint committee on tourism, culture, arts, sport and media amid the ongoing scandal.
The following day, they arrived at Leinster House once again, this time to face questioning from the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee.
During the initial hearing, it emerged that RTÉ underwrote a commercial sponsorship of Ryan by Renault.
RTÉ labelled invoices of €75,000 payments as “consultancy fees” and the now-infamous barter account was used to pay them.
