Ryan Tubridy says he became the face of RTÉ pay scandal

Mr Tubridy told the committee that he was allowed to do other work outside RTÉ under the terms of his contract.

He also said he had not tried to conceal any “secret agreement” with Renault.

“The upshot of RTÉ’s inaccurate declarations is an impression that I have been less than honest. This is not the case,” he said.

“I was not aware that RTÉ were concealing payments to me.

“I signed a contract in good faith, I declared my earnings, I paid every cent of tax.

“My employer has acknowledged that, it has engaged in deceptive practices to pay me, practices that were hidden from me.

“The result of this is that I’ve become the face of a national scandal, I’ve been accused of being complicit, deceitful and dishonest.”

He said, though, he took “full responsibility” for not asking more questions about how his pay was declared by the broadcaster.

The undisclosed payments to Mr Tubridy were made through a “barter account” operated by the organisation, but there is confusion over how exactly that was done.

Media companies often use these to trade advertising space in return for goods and services instead of cash.

Mr Tubridy and Mr Kelly are also facing TDs on the Oireachtas media committee.

Noel Kelly told politicians at a sitting that he had no knowledge of the barter account system.

“I’d never come across a barter system before this,” he said.

“We didn’t know who Astus [a barter account] was.”