Taoiseach Leo Varadkar says RTÉ presenter Ryan Tubridy and his agent Noel Kelly made the right decision to appear before two key Oireachtas committees on Tuesday.
The men have been at the centre of a crisis at the national broadcaster since it emerged last month that RTÉ had understated the salary paid to Mr Tubridy and failed to disclose €345,000 in additional payments to him between 2017 and 2022, reports Breaking News.
On Tuesday, they are to appear before the Public Accounts Committee and the Media Committee.
The representative representing the men wrote to both committees, indicating a desire to clarify a number of issues and provide “important information”.
Speaking to reporters, Mr Varadkar said it was “good” that Mr Tubridy and Mr Kelly would appear as part of an investigation into the payments and governance scandal at RTÉ.
They have a story to tell and I think it’s important that people hear their side of the story.
This will shed more light on the matter.
Asked if he was concerned about the tone of the questioning during the trial, the Supreme Court had previously ruled against the Public Accounts Committee regarding its treatment of another witness;
Mr Varadkar said: “Nobody wants a repeat of that. Because, aside from the hurt that does to those individuals if they’re mistreated before a committee, there’s also a potential liability for the taxpayer and a lot of this is about the misuse or inappropriate use of taxpayers’ money and it would be very unfortunate if we ended up causing it to happen again,” reports Breaking News.
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