RTÉ’s Deputy Director General has insisted the Renault deal was “central” to Ryan Tubridy’s contract talks – insisting the presenter would not have signed the deal without it.

It comes after Tubridy and his agent Noel Kelly insisted the deal was totally a “totally separate agreement” to the presenter’s contract.

Appearing before the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee this morning, Deputy Director General Adrian Lynch described the pay scandal as the “single biggest crisis in the history of RTÉ”.

He said the broadcaster “takes full responsibility” for the misstatement of Tubridy’s pay arrangements and the events that led to it.

Adrian Lynch before the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee, 13-07-2023. Image: Oireachtas

He then went on take issue with several statements made by Tubridy and his agent Noel Kelly before the Oireachtas earlier this week.

He said the plan to underwrite the Renault agreement was “central to the contractual negotiations between RTÉ and Mr Tubridy”.

“We believe that the substantive contract would not have been signed without the additional commercial agreement, or the underwriting,” he said.

“Moreover, we contend that the payments of €75,000 for years two and three of the commercial contract were pursued by NK Management, despite it knowing that the Renault contract was no longer in place.”

Noel Kelly appears before the Oireachtas, Dublin, 11-07-2023. Image: Oireachtas

The third claim flies in the face of the testimony given to the committee by Mr Kelly earlier this week – when he insisted the agreement was completely separate to Tubridy’s contract.

Mr Kelly told the committee the agreement was RTÉ’s idea and claimed he believed RTÉ pursued the deal in order to copper-fasten its sponsorship deal with Renault.

Mr Lynch also took issue with two other claims made by Tubridy and his agent in their Oireachtas appearance.

Firstly, he doubled down on RTÉ’s insistence that an email sent to Tubridy’s agent promising that RTÉ would underwrite the Renault deal was not a “contractual commitment”.

Secondly, he said that, while the ‘request’ to underwrite the deal was well-known within RTÉ the ‘commitment’ to do so was not.

RTÉ has previously suggested former Director General Dee Forbes was the only person with full knowledge of the commitment.

“RTÉ’s position is that, until the verbal commitment given by the former Director General during the call on 7 May 2020, it had not agreed to underwrite the €75,000 payment per contract year,” said Mr Lynch.

RTÉ Incoming Director General Kevin Bakhurst / Image: Sasko Lazarov/RollingNews

Meanwhile, RTÉ Director General Kevin Bakhurst said the payments scandal is "one of the most shameful and damaging episodes in the organisation's history".

Referencing the Renault payments in his opening statement, Mr Bakhurst admitted that RTÉ "should not be brokering or facilitating commercial arrangements with its contractors".

He also warned that "the level of fees in contracts of this nature are too high".

He said both the public and the Oireachtas were “misled” by the broadcaster in terms of The Late Late Show presenter’s pay arrangements.

“That is completely unacceptable,” he said.

“I want to assure you that lessons have been learned, and actions are being taken."

Ryan Tubridy with his agent Noel Kelly appear before the Oireachtas, Dublin, 11-07-2023. Image: PA Images / Alamy

Mr Bakhurst said that RTÉ should have “operated with greater transparency and should have applied much higher standards of honesty and integrity in terms of its public statements”.

The RTÉ delegation at today’s hearing also includes RTÉ Board Chair Siún Ní Raghallaigh, Director of Legal Paula Mullooly, Group Head of Sport Declan McBennett, Chief Financial Officer Richard Collins and Head of Strategy and Commercial Compliance Conor Mullen.

Former chair of the board Moya Doherty declined to attend alongside former chief financial officer Breda O'Keeffe.