RTÉ top 10 best-paid ‘stars’ list dominated by management over TV and radio presenters | Irish Independent
Flor Lynch
Severance payment to unnamed former executive cost €475,000 Joe Duffy topped pay league table for last time on €351,000Kevin Bakhurst’s director general package worth €340,000
4Fionnán Sheahan
The new list of top earners in RTÉ is dominated by management executives as high-profile presenters depart.
RTÉ bosses Kevin Bakhurst, Richard Waghorn and Adrian Lynch came in behind Joe Duffy last year.
Now that RTÉ is finally publishing the salaries of its executives, it is apparent that the real big earners in Montrose are not the on-air “talent”, but senior management.
And it will be even more pronounced in the coming years as RTÉ’s two top-paid presenters are leaving, with new members of the permanent leadership team coming on board.
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The RTÉ annual report for 2024 reveals that Joe Duffy, through his company Claddaghgreen Limited, was paid €351,000 last year, making him the highest earner at the station since Ryan Tubridy’s departure.
But Duffy left this summer, so he will not feature on the top 10 list next year.
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After the former Liveline presenter, the remainder of the top five is made up of members of management: director general Kevin Bakhurst on a package of €339,954, deputy director-general Adrian Lynch on €292,285, chief technology officer Richard Waghorn on €287,120 and director of news and current affairs Deirdre McCarthy on €281,187.
Soon-to-depart presenter Claire Byrne comes in sixth as she was paid €280,000 through her firm Derrough Media Limited. She is finishing up with RTÉ in the coming week as she leaves for rivals Newstalk in the new year.
The departing director of human resources Emer Cusack comes in at seventh as she was paid €274,694 last year. She will remain in her current role until next spring.
Late Late Show host Patrick Kielty is a new entry, coming in eighth on €255,657 to his company Pamanco Ireland Limited. The accounts also note the company did not pick up another €50,000 in travel expenses “as previously publicly disclosed”.
Kielty had stated in 2023 that his contract “allows me to submit flight and accommodation expenses, but I’ve waived this. I’ve made it clear to RTÉ that I will be covering my own flights and accommodation costs.”
Rounding out the top 10 are Miriam O’Callaghan on €246,708, through her company Baby Blue Productions Limited, and Brendan O’Connor on €244,099 for BOC Communications Limited.
Outside of the top 10 earners, director of commercial Gavin Deans came in 11th on €238,577. Ray D’Arcy was 12th on €220,409 to his firm Whatnext Productions Ltd. D’Arcy has also left RTÉ.
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The earnings of three staff presenters also feature in the report.
The now-retired Mary Wilson was on €209,545, George Lee on €195,939 and Darragh Maloney on €194,902. Dáithí Ó Sé was a new name to be listed as he was paid €196,885.
Listing the payment of executives is a relatively new departure in the wake of the Ryan Tubridy payments scandals and the associated financial crisis
Mr Bakhurst has made it policy at the broadcaster that nobody will be paid more than him. His earnings are made up of a salary of €250,000, pension contribution of €62,500, allowances of €25,000 and other payments of €2,454.
The list of earnings for 2024 does not include full-year payments for several new members of the executive team: chief financial officer Mari Hurley, director of audio Patricia Monahan and director of video Steve Carson. These executives only took up their roles in the past year, so their salaries will not become apparent until next year.
Listing the payment of executives is a relatively new departure in the wake of the Ryan Tubridy payments scandals and the associated financial crisis.
The annual report also contains details of a golden handshake payment made last year to a member of management, who is not named.
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“In 2024, there was one severance payment and includes a contribution to legal fees agreed with a former member of the previous executive board with a total cost of €475,000. In the comparative [2023], there were severance payment made totally €768,000 to previous members of the executive board.”
RTÉ has also paid money back to the Revenue Commissioners arising from its use of the Government’s employee subsidies during Covid-19.
The broadcaster undertook a review of its eligibility for participation in the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme from March to August 2020.
As a result, RTÉ made a partial repayment of €2.9m from a total of €5.6m originally claimed to the Revenue Commissioners.
The broadcaster is in the midst of a redundancy programme and goes into the employee numbers. At the end of last year there were 1,853 staff, of whom 219 were part-time or casual. During the year, seven employees were reclassified as employees.
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The annual report says RTÉ continues to engage with the Department of Social Protection on the status of contractors and a sum has been set aside for this continuing investigation.
Last year, €900,000 was paid to the Department and Revenue as part of this investigation.