RTÉ has admitted that it paid top presenter Ryan Tubridy hundreds of thousands of euro more over a period of several years than it declared to the public and the Oireachtas.
In a statement issued this afternoon, the board of the national broadcaster said that between 2017 and 2022, Mr Tubridy received a series of payments totalling €345,000 above his annual published salary.
The payments were uncovered after the company's auditors alerted the board to some of the transactions.
The statement said that a review found that under a separate agreement Mr Tubridy was guaranteed by RTÉ an additional annual income of €75,000, which was intended to come from a commercial partner.
The payment in 2020 did come from a commercial partner of the station, in exchange for a number of personal appearances a year.
"As part of this agreement, RTÉ in turn issued a credit note to the commercial partner thereby reducing the cost to it of its overall sponsorship arrangement with the organisation," RTÉ said.
"The commercial partner did not renew this agreement for a second year, and since the agreement was guaranteed and underwritten by RTÉ, the payments were instead made directly by RTÉ to Mr Tubridy's agent (on his behalf)."
As a result, Mr Tubridy received two payments of €75,000, totalling €150,000, in 2022 for that year and the previous year. €18,750 of that related to earnings for the first three months of 2023.
RTÉ has said that Ryan Tubridy will not present his radio show tomorrow morning amid the payments controversy.
In a statement this evening, Ryan Tubridy said he is "surprised" and "can't shed any light" on why RTÉ treated payments to him in the way it did.
He said: "Like many people, I'm surprised by the announcements made in RTÉ's statement today regarding the errors in the reporting of its accounts.
"It is unfortunate that these errors are in relation to how RTÉ have reported payments made to me but I just want to be clear: this is a matter for RTÉ and I have no involvement in RTÉ's internal accounting treatment or RTÉ's public declarations in connection with such payments.
"Obviously, I'm disappointed to be at the centre of this story but unfortunately, I can't shed any light on why RTÉ treated these payments in the way that they did nor can I answer for their mistakes in this regard."
His NK Management company said: "We were made aware today of RTÉ's statement concerning its accounting treatment and public declarations of payments made to Ryan Tubridy. These are matters for which RTÉ has sole responsibility and accountability.
"There is no issue whatsoever in relation to the payments being properly and lawfully due and there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing on the part of Ryan Tubridy or NK Management.
"These issues are solely concerned with RTÉ's internal accounting treatment and public declarations in respect of such lawful payments."
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These payments were recorded in what is known as a "barter account".
Barter accounts are commonly used in the marketing and advertising sector to enable goods or services to be exchanged for money.
The RTÉ statement said that further investigations had revealed that between 2017 and 2019, Mr Tubridy received a total of €120,000 more in payments from the station than had been previously publicly stated.
The reasons for these payments are currently under investigation, it added.
The RTÉ Board said that as a result of the developments, it is necessary for it to correct the public record in relation to Mr Tubridy's earnings from RTÉ during the period 2017-2022.
These have been published by the organisation this afternoon.
"The RTÉ Board considers the public mis-stating of RTÉ's financial information to be a very serious matter and has moved as quickly as it could, once it had independently established the facts, to publish the correct figures," it said.
The statement added that the board has conducted an internal review of the reporting of the remuneration of its top 10 most highly paid on-air presenters and this has found that the full cost to RTÉ of its contracts with the other such on-air presenters has been correctly reported.
"The Board is committed to ensuring that there is appropriate accountability for what has occurred," it said.
"That process is ongoing, mindful of individuals' rights, and affording them due process."
It said steps have now been put in place to ensure these matters do not occur again.
The board said it has now requested Grant Thornton to review the contracts of RTÉ's top 10 most highly paid on-air presenters to independently validate that all remuneration figures have been correctly stated and accounted for by the station.
The auditing company is also to examine the understatement by the company of Mr Tubridy's published remuneration by €120,000 in the period 2017-2019.
The company said it is also pausing all new on-air presenter contracts until the following processes are in place: the board's Remuneration Committee has full oversight and approval of the terms of contracts relating to the top 10 most highly paid on-air presenters "in value and any material variations or amendments to those contracts".
The barter account has also been brought within the control of the finance function with specific controls put in place.
In a statement, RTÉ Chair Siún Ní Raghallaigh described the issue as a matter of profound regret for the board and apologised.
"We are well aware that this is a serious breach of trust with the public," she said.
"On behalf of the Board, I wish to apologise for what has occurred. It is clear that RTÉ has fallen short of the high standards that it sets for itself and are expected of it."
Speaking on RTÉ's Six One News, Ms Ní Raghallaigh said people will be held accountable.
When asked who signed off on the deal, she said the matters around the personalities or people involved in this is not something that they can talk about at this point.
Ms Ní Raghallaigh was appointed on 29 November – after these deals were done.
Asked if people at board level were aware of what was going on at the time these deals were done, she said: "No. Nobody at board level was aware of any of this."
'Unacceptable' that standards not met - minister
Minister for Arts Catherine Martin said she was told that an issue had arisen in March of this year.
In a statement this afternoon, the minister said it was unacceptable that the expected standards of transparency and accountability had not been met
She added: "I am extremely concerned at the details which were contained in RTÉ's statement today, on foot of that review being completed.
"I have spoken with the RTÉ Chairperson today, and have subsequently written to her requesting that she meet with me and officials of the Department. The meeting has been arranged for Monday.
"I have asked the Chair to set out in that meeting, in detail, the issues involved, the steps the Board is taking to deal with the matter, the follow on action that will be required, and the timeline for these actions.
"The public rightly expect much higher standards of transparency and accountability from Ireland’s public service broadcaster. It is unacceptable that these have not been met.
"It will be critical for the Board to identify whether there are wider governance issues that need to be examined and addressed, and to ensure that there is appropriate accountability for what has occurred.
"It will be equally important for the Board to demonstrate that it is putting in place appropriate structures and processes to prevent a recurrence of a matter of this nature."
Coimisiún na Meán, the organisation which has replaced the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, said: "We are seeking further information from RTÉ about this matter and will consider the implications when we know more."
Read: RTÉ's full statement on payments to Ryan Tubridy
Explainer: What are barter account transactions?
Tubridy on payments: 'This is a matter for RTÉ'
RTÉ payments 'a breach of trust unparalled in RTÉ history' - NUJ
