RTÉ’s newly appointed Director General, Kevin Bakhurst has said that he will be deciding on Ryan Tubridy's future at the national broadcaster within the next three weeks.
On Tuesday, Tubridy and his agent Noel Kelly were the latest to appear before the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee amid the ongoing pay scandal at the national broadcaster.
Currently, the broadcasting star is "out of his contract" with RTÉ after stepping down from the Late Late Show and while his return to television and radio has been much speculated, Bakhurst has indicated when a decision would be made.
READ MORE: Key points from Ryan Tubridy's explosive testimony so far
Speaking to Kieran Cuddihy on The Hard Shoulder, Bakhurst said that "this is a big decision for me and for RTE and need to be properly considered" adding that he needs to be “fair and make the right decision for audiences and for RTÉ".
When he was asked how long the process will take, Bakhurst explained that he expects a decision in a few weeks, "hopefully by the end of the month" but that "he won't be out of a job by the end of the week".
However, Bakhurst stated does not accept that this is a mess entirely of RTÉ's making, telling Kieran that Tubridy’s agent deserves some of the responsibility as “the negotiations involved RTÉ and Noel Kelly".
On the claim made today during the committee hearings that Renault money didn't need to be added to RTÉ wage, Bakhurt said he believes if a deal was agreed by RTÉ, then it must be in his wages, saying: “'the issue for RTÉ is, this money was paid by RTÉ and should be declared as part of the pay to Ryan and that's correct in my view".
Speaking about former Director General Dee Forbes, Bakhurst said he thinks she should go before Oireachtas to explain the deal saying "It would be extremely helpful to hear from Dee because I think it would shine a lot of light on who knew what and who was involved and it would be extremely helpful to hear from Breda again".
One area which Backhurst wants to look at very closely is presenters having the use of agents, saying he's "not sure it makes sense".
While Backhurst has said that a decision will be made in three weeks, while being grilled at the Oireachtas on Tuesday, Tubridy said he could be “out of a job by Friday” as he discussed still receiving a paycheck from RTÉ while he is off the air.
On June 22, the broadcaster was taken off presenting duties when payments that were given to him but were not publicly declared came to light.
