Former RTÉ presenter Ryan Tubridy has made his first comments on social media since negotiations on a return to his RTÉ Radio 1 programme ended without agreement.
He commented on a video he posted on Instagram this morning, writing: "A new dawn, a new day, a new beginning. Stay tuned for more".
Mr Tubridy went off air on RTÉ Radio on 22 June, when controversy over the under-declaration of his salary by RTÉ was first revealed by the RTÉ Board.
RTÉ announced it had understated his earnings by €345,000 from the years 2017 to 2022.
Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris said today that the national broadcaster must demonstrate that it has a "clear reform plan" before any further funding could be provided.
"I respectfully suggest when people keep on saying 'what is the Government going to do?’ – what is RTÉ going to do?" Mr Harris said, as he addressed reporters in Dublin.
The minister added that the Government will receive an interim report from Mazars in relation to RTÉ's UK barter account this week.
'Imperative all parties align'
The crisis at the broadcaster now extends far beyond Mr Tubridy's pay to RTÉ's internal financial, accounting and governance practices and its expenditure on corporate hospitality for advertising clients.
A report by Grant Thornton last week said it was "very plausible" that fees paid by RTÉ to Mr Tubridy were under-declared by €120,000 from 2017-2019 to keep the payments under the €500,000 mark.
In an email to RTÉ staff on 17 August, Director General Kevin Bakhurst said that negotiations with Mr Tubridy had ended and there were "no plans for Ryan to return to his presenting role with RTÉ at this time".
Mr Bakhurst said the plan had been for Mr Tubridy to return to his radio show on 4 September, as well as a podcast, and that a salary of €170,000 had also been agreed.
Following the publication of the second Grant Thornton report, Mr Tubridy issued a statement saying he welcomed "the report's findings that I did not claim €120,000 in fees which was due to me in 2020 and that I did not agree with how RTÉ proposed to account for this decision".
He also said that it is clear "that my actual income from RTÉ in 2020 and 2021 matches what was originally published as my earnings for those years and RTÉ has not yet published its top ten earner details for 2022".
RTÉ then sought clarification "as to the meaning" of his comments.
In his email to staff, Mr Bakhurst said: "Despite having agreed some of the fundamentals, including fee, duration and hours, regretfully, it is my view that trust between the parties has broken down. Public statements made without consultation appear to question the basis for the necessary restatement of fees paid for services for 2020 and 2021.
"As I set about a programme of recovery from this crisis, it is imperative that all parties are aligned in one key respect: the misstatement of fees should never have happened; and the correct re-statement of those fees is accepted by all."
