Ryan Tubridy and Noel Kelly to face in-depth questions from PAC on RTÉ payments and contract details

A Dáil committee has told Ryan Tubridy and his agent Noel Kelly that they will face in-depth questions about payments made to the RTÉ star, details of his contracts with the national broadcaster, and the process that led to the signing of the controversial Renault deal.

Public Accounts Committee members will also ask how the deal came to be underwritten by RTÉ, according to letters sent to the two men today.

Next week promises further public and political focus on RTÉ with the scheduled appearance by Mr Tubridy and Mr Kelly at the two Oireachtas committees investigating events at the broadcaster – the PAC and the Oireachtas media committee – on Tuesday.

The media committee met in private today when committee members were told by Oireachtas legal advisers that the two witnesses were under no obligation to be present, unlike other RTÉ witnesses.

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Members were urged to bear this in mind, and there is concern among some of the committee that questioning of some RTÉ executives has been over-zealous. It is expected that Mr Tubridy and Mr Kelly will be accompanied by their representatives from Hayes Solicitors.

That will be followed on Thursday by another hearing of the PAC which senior RTÉ executives, including new director general Kevin Bakhurst, have been requested to attend.

Mr Bakhurst formally takes over the role of director general on Monday and has signalled that he intends to reconstitute the executive team immediately. He must also seek to win over staff at the station, who are angry and embarrassed by the recent revelations – but also fearful about the future.

Meanwhile, there is growing political support for the Comptroller and Auditor General to be given a new oversight role over RTÉ's finances, after two weeks of financial revelations which have plunged the broadcaster into crisis.

[ RTÉ explainer: What next after the ‘darkest period’ in the history of the State broadcaster? ]

Several members of the PAC have confirmed to The Irish Times that they are pushing for the committee to issue a report which would recommend that the C&AG be given new watchdog powers over the organisation’s finances.