RTÉ presenters Claire Byrne, Joe Duffy and Miriam O’Callaghan have publicly discussed their respective remuneration packages in response to the controversy surrounding hidden payments made to former Late Late Show host Ryan Tubridy.
Duffy, while presenting his Liveline radio programme on Monday, revealed he is paid €351,000 annually by the broadcaster, while Byrne said she receives €280,000 a year.
She said on her Today with Claire Byrne radio programme that she was also paid a separate fee of €25,000 for presenting the TV quiz show Ireland’s Smartest.
In response to listeners’ calls, Duffy noted that according to the latest published figures he was paid €300,000 for his radio work in 2021, with an additional €51,000 for “whatever they asked me to do on television”.
Duffy explained that his contract expired this year, but that RTÉ had invoked a clause extending the deal for another two years at the same rate. He said he had agreed to the extension.
“The conversation was five minutes,” he added. “I said I’d gladly do another two years and they said ‘thank you very much’ and that’s it.”
In response to revelations about a barter agreement that was in place for Tubridy, Duffy said he had “never heard of a barter deal or whatever it’s called”.
“I’ve never been offered any payments by a sponsor. Mother of God, what company would sponsor Liveline, we’ve given out about every company in the land and beyond.”
Speaking on air for the first time since the news of the payments to Tubridy emerged, Byrne opened her show by explaining that she had not previously spoken about the matter due to having family commitments last week.
She said that “no other payment exists or has ever existed beyond my published fee,” and that her most recent published fee was €350,000, which covered presenting her radio show and the former Claire Byrne Live TV programme.
[ Dee Forbes resigns: The key questions now facing RTÉOpens in new window ]
However, Byrne said she had decided not to continue presenting the TV show “for personal and for family reasons”, leaving her salary at €280,000.
“I acknowledge that fee is significant and it’s way beyond what many people could hope to earn. There are others who will no doubt have more to say about it, I’m sure, but my personal decision here this morning is to be open and honest with you,” she added.
“Having said that, my decision to do this is not meant to set a precedent for others or to force anyone else to release their information – that’s a matter entirely for themselves. I felt that for me it was the right thing to do this morning.”
In a statement, O’Callaghan said her most recent annual published fee from RTÉ – €263,500 – was correct and that she had “never received additional payments from RTÉ that were not publicly declared”.
Dee Forbes resigned as director general of RTÉ with immediate effect on Monday morning. In her statement announcing her decision, she outlined her role in the negotiation of Mr Tubridy’s new contract in 2020.
Séamus Dooley, Irish secretary of the National Union of Journalists, called on the chair of the RTÉ board to meet each member of the broadcaster’s executive management to “clarify their individual involvement, if any, in the process outlined by Ms Forbes including the extent of their knowledge of the arrangements put in place to facilitate additional payments to Mr Tubridy”.
In response to the payments controversy, Mr Dooley added: “This is no way to run a circus, never mind a public broadcaster.”
