RTÉ admits paying Tubridy €345,000 more than declared

awec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121227068#Comment_121227068

RTE staff are not public sector nor civil servants.

saabsaab

Pity.

Loafing Oaf

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121228033#Comment_121228033

RTE would not take such an ultimatum seriously. They know the government would not allow them get into such financial difficulty they had to start cancelling 'important' programs.

Tow

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121229418#Comment_121229418

Their internal solicitor was fine example of what they think of themselves.

Brendan Bendar

Hopefully the Govt realise that if they think they can get away with bailing out RTE without everything being exposed and the absolute shambles they ran, coupled with the riding bareback of the taxpayer, and JQT will not react!!!

Think again lads and lassies.

Trampas

Is a tv license like your motor tax that it’s back dated if people renew several months after it expired?

toggle toes

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121228033#Comment_121228033

PAC going for the jugular regarding the document between Dee Forbes and Noel Kelly. If the new DG thought he and his comrades they could dip into the tax payers coffers for the tune of 56 million without providing the revelant documentation they were soon brought back down to earth when the chair of the committee said they will compell Kevin Bachurst to hand over the document. Even if it means going down the legal root. If one thing has come out of today's proceedings is that PAC are not going to be push overs and that Kevin Bachurst and his comrades have some serious thinking to do if they want to secure the 56 million. The ball is now in Mr. Bachurst Court. Interesting times ahead.

hotmail.com

Why is he withholding this note?

Looks to me like Bakhurst has done no cost cutting except for the pay freeze.

fritzelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121229668#Comment_121229668

Obviously something incriminating

Has one cent being saved since this all started? Just some motions that they may do something but lots of we can't do this and we can't do that - everything being said and done but save money.

Probably at the end of it all anything decent that RTE does will be dropped, as has been done, and carry on with the same old crap they spew out 80% of the time that costs pennies to produce with very little appeal

downtheroad

I just read that rte has a €100m overdraft facility, of which they're already at €65m overdrawn. That is obscene.

Hyperbollix

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121224948#Comment_121224948

Don't buy any of that tbh.

You're ascribing a bit too much power to Tyler IMO. Tubridy had a 5 year contract and still had 2 more years to run on it. Do you think the national hero/treasure and all round good egg, with the backing of Noel Kelly behind him, was spooked by a new line manager and decided to suddenly rip up his highly prized €500k + per annum contract and worry about the consequences later? Remember, even if that was the case, Tyler was still going to be over him on the radio show, which he fully intended to keep doing. No, I don't think that's credible. Far more likely is he knew he would be left in situ for two more years to see out his contract and then could renegotiate a new radio plus one off documentaries contract in '25 when he would possibly decide to leave the LLS at 52/53 years old. Although, to my mind, even that's a stretch. Who would turn down that salary for 45 minutes a day on radio and a 2.5 hour tv show once a week where it was mainly researchers and producers doing his job for him. But who knows, maybe he did want to go in the next few years.

We don't need to over think this really. The auditors flagged up the problem with payments and barter accounts in mid March. Forbes would have spoken to Tubridy immediately since the debacle directly implicated him. He suddenly announces his stepping down a matter of days later on the LLS. Also don't forget he gave a magazine interview in Jan/Feb this year where he said he was enjoying his job and looked forward to continuing with the LLS indefinitely (or similar)

As for what it achieved? Well realistically, is there any possibility he could have walked out onto the LLS set in September gone and tried to pick up where he left off. He couldn't ignore the situation. He would have had to deal with it and I don't even know how that could be done. Yes, he expected to come back to radio, but that is a very different beast. I could see him easily waffling for 10 minutes about the injustices done to him and then moving on with his morning show. Far trickier and more revealing to grit through a live TV show appearance.

It's obvious to me that secret payments relating to bogus off site LLS appearance for car dealers was ground zero here, the scene of the crime. And Tubridy thought he would put as much distance between him and that crime scene as he could. I fully believe he and Forbes knew their turkeys were cooked in March. Tubs thought he could stay on on radio and still collect a vast salary for doing SFA, and Forbes was out the door anyway and got her doctor to write her a sicknote to absolve her of any further duties beyond June.

alzer100

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121229775#Comment_121229775

Couldn't say it any better!

Lime Tree Farm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121229647#Comment_121229647

Yes

Murph_D

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121229647#Comment_121229647

No.

ForestFire

eh hello...

1) Mr Bakhurst declined to answer those questions (to the politicians), insisting he could not speak about individuals.

Ans:- As someone else said, no information no addtional funding and noting more to talk about...session closed!!

2)Mr Bakhurst said there were no plans for compulsory redundancies and said, it there were, that would require political approval.

Ans:- You have our approval, We'll let you get back to D4 to start making it happen

Summary...Mr Bakhurst "So if you want redundancies the politics have to more or less do it.....but Im not going to tell you anything about what is happening in here!!!"

chrisd2019

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121230096#Comment_121230096

But if you buy a new Licence towards the end of a month it will expire on the first of that same month the following year, potentially an 11 month and one day first year! Got caught by that myself many years ago, therefore I NEVER pay the renewal before it is 2 months expired. Results in a selection of pre planned letters from an post, which I no longer bother to open !

I wonder is this letter printing department doing overtime these days :)

Loafing Oaf

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121229624#Comment_121229624

What form do you envisage this JQT 'reaction' taking if RTE don't get their act together? How many people genuinely care enough about RTE's travails for them to influence how they vote in a general election? And even if they did which party could they vote for that is proposing a significantly different broadcasting policy?

Cluedo Monopoly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121230513#Comment_121230513

There is a growing perception that FF and FG protect the elite. The status quo power swap is protected. This saga copperfastens that perception. Votes will most certainly be lost here.

Cluedo Monopoly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121229712#Comment_121229712

That's incredible. Have you a link to that?

downtheroad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121230915#Comment_121230915

https://www.businesspost.ie/article/stanley-pac-to-seek-to-compel-rte-to-provide-tubridy-documents/

Scroll down to the section at 09.30

Loafing Oaf

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121230893#Comment_121230893

The poster was positing an angry backlash among ordinary voters if RTE gets a no-strings-attached bailout. If the implication of this is that they will vote in the next GE for parties who would be less likely to implement such policies, I'm not seeing who such parties would be. AFAIK most of the opposition has now embraced direct exchequer funding of RTE as a replacement for the licence fee. Is this funding mechanism likely to impose greater fiscal discipline on RTE, which the poster thinks voters want, than the current one?

arctictree

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121231329#Comment_121231329

Interesting, so what happens if they dont get a bailout and just run out of cash? Is it just lights out?! Thats a crazy OD by the way. Similar to county councils where the banks think there would never be a situation where they wouldnt be paid.

downtheroad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121231381#Comment_121231381

I'd assume the bank provided the OD on the basis that they expect the government to underwrite or bail it out if it ever came to it.

If the government don't bail them out you'd imagine they will need to refinance, or sell assets.

Some clever developers must be licking their lips at the thoughts of getting a discount on the land at Montrose. Was it Glenveagh who already came out to say the land isn't as valuable as RTE might think....sowing the seeds early.

Augme

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121228033#Comment_121228033

The funding of rte isn't a PAC decision to make AFAIK. So PAC can grandstand as much as they want but it's a government decision as to what funding rte get. RTE attitude to PAC highlights how toothless these committees can be. The only reason RTE are even entertaining is because can't be seen to be completely disrespecting it but deep down they k ow they'll get their funding and there is very little PAC can do about that.

Furze99

Anyone hear the Late Debate on RTE radio last night, mostly filled with some wan repeating herself endlessly as regards poverty and the budget. We were promised a debate on the issue of RTE and the PAC.

With a few minutes left, Colm calls a lengthy ad break and then they get stuck into the debate ... not. Half the remaining minutes taken up by some journalist telling us again what happened earlier, followed by a line of patter from Colm and the government view from FGer. The last few seconds of banalities from SF and the poverty person.

What sort of public broadcasting is this?

SEPT 23 1989

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121229712#Comment_121229712

the interest and fees on that amount

I would be very nervous if I was their lender watching the RTE financial circus over the last few months

any other company and their loans would be called in at this stage

bigroad

RTE are in big trouble,

when you think of the amount of money involved and thats this year.

what about next year and the year after.

if they want to cut their cloth to suit they will most definitely have to sell D4.

If ffg dont get in next time than Rte are toast.

Im thinking at most Rte 1 news and Radio 1 news and thats it.

Everything that anybody wants to listen to or watch is online and thats the future.

No need to have to listen to overpaid simpletons shouting out their own agenda to the little people and the worst part is they want us to pay for it,no chance.

downtheroad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121231579#Comment_121231579

As if RTE care about bank interest and fees. There is quite obviously no regard for financial control within the organisation.

I wonder which bank it is.

Is the new sponsor of the Late Late Show bartering bank interest for sponsorship

Tow

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121231381#Comment_121231381

You can be sure that RTE's bank was watching proceedings and are starting to get worried about the overdraft.

Caquas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121229775#Comment_121229775

I've been asking repeatedly why Tubridy resigned from the LLS and no one has a good answer. His announcement last March may have been a key moment in the development of a crisis that threatens to destroy our national broadcaster but no one else is asking about it. The reason he gave at the time - privacy! - was an insult to all concerned, especially as he was contradicting himself, but he has made no effort to elaborate on his story. And the media haven't asked him because, of course, the media is the last place we will learn the truth about what happens in the media.

You believe that Tubridy dropped the LLS because he knew the barter accounts were about to be exposed (you mean the Renault payments, a separate issue). But that makes no sense, even with hindsight. It must have been clear to him back then that merely dropping the LLS wouldn't help him, whether he believed the barter accounts would be a storm in a teacup or even if he foresaw the existential crisis which RTÉ now faces. It is absurd to think that dodging the LLS would solve his problem, especially if RTE continued to pay him big bucks for a few hours of morning radio (and surely you don't think he was planning on a big pay cut😜). In fact, sticking with the LLS would have given him a platform to defend himself. Far from being unwilling to defend himself in front of a live audience, as you surmise, he has adamantly maintained that he is innocent of any wrongdoing, including before an Oireachtas Committee firing squad. In fact, he destroyed his whole career by issuing a statement to that effect after Bakhurst had agreed to take him back.

I don't know why Tubridy dropped the LLS but it wasn't some pointless, self-inflicted wound in response to the prospect of a scandal. On the other hand, falling out with your new boss is one of the most common reasons for quitting, and jumping before you're pushed is a smart move if you think you have a "brand" to protect.😏