Disbelief. Incredulity. Astonishment.
Both Government and opposition politicians struggled to understand last night how it was possible that further revelations were emerging from RTÉ about barter accounts.
After all, the Social Democrats deputy Catherine Murphy had asked RTÉ's Chief Financial Officer Richard Collins last week if there were more barter accounts.
He replied steadfastly: "No. There is only one barter account."
That's why when RTÉ Political Correspondent Mícheál Lehane broke the news last night that there were actually three - Astus, Active and Miroma - the reaction from politicians was one of fury.
Deputy Murphy said: "It is extremely concerning to learn there is not one, but multiple barter accounts in RTÉ…. Is this another case of an Oireachtas committee having been misled?"
Fianna Fáil’s Christopher O’Sullivan added RTÉ executives would "... have to be completely upfront and honest" at today’s Oireachtas Media Committee or "… they will have to consider their positions."
Chair of that Oireachtas Committee on Media Niamh Smyth said the debacle was "...devastating for the entity of RTÉ and public confidence. The executive need to come clean with the committee on all accounts."
But will they?
Or should a different question be asked: Can they?
The truth is that politicians are now openly wondering if the woeful situation which RTÉ finds itself in is beyond the control of its executives.
The latest debacle came on a day that Cabinet had moved to stabilise the situation by announcing two parallel external reviews and the appointment of a forensic accountant to RTÉ.
Minister for Media Catherine Martin said at lunchtime that the Government was moving to rebuild trust between RTÉ and its staff, audience and the Oireachtas.
But it lurched back into chaos last night.
Maybe it was always going to be difficult given RTÉ was providing sensitive documentation to politicians.
The correspondence includes then Director General Dee Forbes telling Ryan Tubridy that fees set out in a contract "... will be paid by RTÉ without any reductions, and RTÉ shall not make any request or inquiry from you in relation to a reduction in the agreed fees".
Then there was the data on the 100 top earners in RTÉ.
Documents released to the Oireachtas committee reveal the pay but not the names - showing the highest wage is €515,000 and the salary ranked 100 comes in at just under €117,000.
Among the best paid, 31 people are presenters, 59 are managers and 10 are executives.
Another eye-opener was how RTÉ signed up to a contract that would see the broadcaster pay for sets, food, drink at Renault events.
However, the barter accounts were always different.
This was the vehicle which was used to funnel non-disclosed payments from RTÉ to Ryan Tubridy's agent.
If RTÉ executives were going to get one thing right - it had to be information on the barter account.
They failed.
That failure now means they're going to be in the firing line once again when the Oireachtas Media Committee meets later today.
Sinn Féin's Imelda Munster declared last night: "Corporate governance, transparency and accountability appears to have been non-existent at executive board level at RTÉ."
Labour Senator Marie Sherlock said: "This latest bombshell from RTÉ is outrageous. The drip feed of information shows a huge disrespect for the public."
Fine Gael's Alan Dillon said: "This concealment of transactions, directly opposed to the principles of corporate governance, is a significant blow to the integrity of our public broadcaster."
The RTÉ Executive and the RTÉ Board are in for a rough ride again today.
And when it comes to explaining the inexplicable, about newly emerged barter accounts, they only have themselves to blame.
