Minister to discuss ‘very high wages’ of leading RTÉ presenters

Minister for Communications Richard Bruton will raise concerns about the "very high wages" paid to individual presenters at RTÉ when he meets the broadcaster.

He recognised the disquiet and public comment on the salaries paid and said it was something RTÉ itself also recognised. But the station said some of its top performers were “key in generating advertising revenue” and there was a balance to be struck.

Mr Bruton was responding to calls in the Dáil for greater accountability on spending by RTÉ amid disquiet that it pays an “excessive” €3 million to its 10 leading presenters.

Sinn Féin communications spokesman Brian Stanley said RTÉ in 2017 sought a licence fee increase from €160 to €175. He asked the Minister if he was considering legislation "to establish a greater level of accountability" on how the station spends the TV licence fee.

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The Laois TD said “some of the costs at the station seem to be excessive”. He was fully in favour of good public service broadcasting and of funding it but “we see figures of €495,000, €400,000 and €389,000 which are substantial sums for a station serving the population of the whole island of 6.5 million which is roughly half that of London”.

He said the BBC proposed the introduction of a pay cap and he asked if the RTÉ director general was considering a similar pay cap.

Mr Bruton said during communications questions the fees paid to RTÉ personnel were not day-to-day matters the Minister dealt but he pointed to RTÉ’s statement that its latest figures showed a 32 per cent reduction in 2015 compared to fees from 2008.

“I understand the director general has indicated an intention to see further reductions in the fees paid to top performers but that is an operational matter for the company,” he said.

The Minister said the station would argue that some of its top performers were “key in generating advertising revenue and they create important access to audiences and commercial revenue” but he acknowledged that a balance had to be struck.

Mr Stanley also raised concerns about the significant €40 million shortfall in licence fee collection because of non-compliance.

The Minister said a cross-government report on the collection of the fee is due by the end of March, when he will “look at the effectiveness of the system in place”.