RTÉ has revealed in its latest correspondence to the Oireachtas Media Committee that it has operated not one but three barter accounts.
The revelations have drawn further concern from politicians about the level of transparency being provided by the broadcaster to the Oireachtas.
At the sittings last week, Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy asked the RTÉ Chief Financial Officer Richard Collins directly whether there was more than one barter account.
"No. There is only one barter account," he replied.
The barter account which has been at the centre of the controversy since the outset was operated historically outside of the oversight of the Finance department which is led by Mr Collins.
He said when he became aware of its existence, he pushed to bring it under the control of his department, as the account was operated by the broadcaster's Commercial team.
At Wednesday's sitting on the Oireachtas Media Committee, Mr Collins said that while RTÉ used three companies to operate barter accounts, they were consolidated for accounting purposes.
"There was one barter account in terms of how it was looked at financially, but three companies feeding into it," he said.
Two payments of €150,000 were made to Ryan Tubridy through the barter account in 2022. The use of the barter account meant the cost to RTÉ was more than €230,000.
Barter accounts are widely used in the advertising and media sectors. They are intended to allow the recording of services to be exchanged for other services.
For example: If a media organisation has unsold advertising airtime for a forthcoming period, they may use the barter account to exchange that advertising with an airline for flight tickets.
The media organisation - which would have received nothing for the airtime otherwise - gets the tickets to use for competition prizes. The airline gets advertising space cheaper, and without paying in full in cash.
The issue arises when it comes to using the barter account to withdraw money. Cash payments from the barter account result in a punishing 35% additional cost.
Therefore, when RTÉ paid €150,000 to Mr Tubridy the balance in its barter account was reduced by an additional 35%, plus related fees: total cost €230,000.
The questions surrounding the controversy relate not only to the decision and cost related to using the barter account for direct payments, but the transparency internally, publicly and to the Oireachtas relating to that decision.
In a report to the RTÉ Board, accountants with Grant Thornton said the decision was made to make the payments to Mr Tubridy through the barter account because it was in credit and no other budget was available.
It made no finding of wrongdoing on the part of Ryan Tubridy in relation to any payments made by RTÉ.
The same report noted that the payments were made on foot of invoices submitted for 'Consultancy Fees.’
It concluded no consultancy services were provided by Mr Tubridy or his agent, and "on the balance of probabilities, the description on the invoices, 'Consultancy Fees' did not reflect the substance of the transactions."
It also said that the barter account had until two years ago been operated ‘off-balance sheet.’
The Chief Financial Officer brought transactions through the barter account onto the balance sheet but noted that it still rested outside the normal internal control system.
The two €75,000 payments made through the barter account were not included in the public declarations of Mr Tubridy’s earnings, meaning his total earnings were underdeclared.
