Ryan Tubridy has revealed his hopes to return to RTÉ as he addressed the second Grant Thornton report.
The new report, which was published on Wednesday, August 16, revealed Ryan and his agent Noel Kelly had no involvement in the public understatement of the presenter’s salary between the years 2017 and 2019.
It also confirmed that the popular presenter waived a €120,000 exit fee, which he was entitled to at the end of his contract.
In a statement, released on Wednesday, Ryan said: “I welcome the findings of the Grant Thornton Report, published today.”
“I also welcome the report’s findings that I did not claim €120,000 in fees which was due to me in 2020 and that I did not agree with how RTE proposed to account for this decision.”
“It is also clear that my actual income from RTE in 2020 and 2021 matches what was originally published as my earnings for those years and RTÉ has not yet published its top ten earner details for 2022.”
“I repeat my offer to publish the details of any future RTÉ contract.”
“I am committed to re-establishing the confidence and trust of my colleagues and listeners, and I hope that any fair assessment of the findings of today’s report will help in this regard,” Ryan continued.
“Finally, I want to acknowledge the huge support that I have received in recent weeks from people across the country; many cards and letters, greetings on the street and words of support from people I bumped into meant an awful lot to me and I appreciate them all very much.”
RTÉ was plunged into chaos earlier this summer when it was revealed that Ryan’s earnings were publicly understated by €345,000 over the last six years.
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The issue was identified during a routine audit of RTÉ’s 2022 accounts, prompting an independent review of the matter by auditing organisation Grant Thornton.
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 resignation of a number of RTÉ’s key staff members – including former Director General Dee Forbes and former Director of Strategy Rory Coveney.
RTÉ’s former Commercial Director Geraldine O’Leary later announced her early retirement.
