RTÉ admits paying Tubridy €345,000 more than declared

BMW to Renault? That's a punishment in itself.

IMO, The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show is very very stale. But it's not a like-for-like comparison anyway. Tubs would fit better at Newstalk.

To be fair its a grey area. Marty is a paid public servant with RTE. He has obligations like all public or civil servants. I can't imagine a civil servant in the revenue commissioners for example doing gigs on the side and getting a loan of a car in return. They'd have to declare it.

Its only fair the same rules apply across the board. Public servants should not be getting substantial gifts or favours on the side, no matter what they do in return.

This needs tightening up by the new DG. RTE staffers need to decide if they are public servants or not.

She's the Media Minister.

I don’t think that’s the way it’s going- it’s simply RTÉ haven’t answered his original question- instead Marty was presented as the answer to a question that wasn’t asked.

If Marty has a tax liability no one is going to feel sorry for him but he doesn’t deserve to be hung out to dry- I imagine there’s a lot of RTÉ folk right now totting up what they may have to owe to revenue - I won’t feel sympathy for Marty but I won’t “condemn” him either- his punishment will be a hefty fine from revenue if he’s under declared or not declared- just like it would be for any of us -I imagine there will be many others in the same boat.

The list of “commercial arrangements” that RTÉ are now proposing is years overdue- anyone working in the corporate sector know full well the implications of not declaring interests and risk their careers for not disclosing- that for me is the bigger issue here - it’s the complete lack of governance in general in RTÉ

He should receive a suspension of a couple months without pay, and get his tax affairs in order. As should anyone in RTE who has been found doing similar.

Time to clean the place up.

This is why you have to take what a politician says with a large pinch of salt. Blows with the wind..every day is a new day. Always said no need to spend big money producing dramas, just promote Oireachtas TV, best fictional drama in town and no additional production costs (far from free of course but it's a sunk cost so may as well get some actual benefit from the spend)

The fact, though, is that RTE is not part of the "Public Service", and it's not up to RTE staffers to decide if they're public servants or not.

The Department of Public Expenditure & Reform lists all the organisations that are part of the Public Service here: https://databank.per.gov.ie/Public_Service_Numbers.aspx?rep=SectorTrend) . They fall into the following categories:

• Civil Service
• Defence Sector
• Education Sector
• Health Sector
• Justice Sector
• Local Authorities
• NCSA (Non-Commercial State Agencies)

The NSCAs relevant to the area of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport & Media are:

• Arts Council
• Boord O Ulster-scotch (An Foras Teanga)
• Broadcasting Authority of Ireland
• Chester Beatty Library
• Crawford Gallery
• Fáilte Ireland
• Foras Na Gaeilge (An Foras Teanga)
• Irish Museum Of Modern Art
• National Concert Hall
• National Gallery
• National Library Of Ireland
• National Museum Of Ireland
• Screen Ireland (Fís Éireann)
• Sport Ireland
• Tourism Ireland
• Údarás Na Gaeltachta
• Western Development Commission

As you can see RTE is not a part of this. Legally, RTE is a "statutory corporation", the same as the ESB, Ervia (formerly known as Bord Gáis Éireann) and An Bord Pleanála. Legally, they are specifically not part of the public service, despite people colloquially regarding them as "a public service".

Marty was/is also an MC at Bank of Ireland sponsored events which I believe he would be paid for. I think Marty would have an accountant and declaring this income as there’s a paper trail.

I don’t think Marty is the person being discussed at the committee the other day.

It's a valid point re charging VAT but some plumbers / electricians may not thank you for shining a light on their intermittent practice of not charging VAT for their services😂.

As a permanent employee of RTE, Marty is possibly subject to the same rules as for civil servants. Here are the rules:

Information notice - gifts to civil servants (sipo.ie)

If he is subject to these rules, then I believe he may have broken 2 rules:

1.  All offers of gifts or hospitality from commercial interests which have or might have contractual relations with the Department/Office of the civil servant to whom the offer is made must be reported by that civil servant to his or her manager for direction. 
2. If sources can be believed, he didn't declare the car as a taxable benefit.