Kenny still tops in RTÉ earnings

Pat Kenny remains the top earner among RTÉ presenters, earning nearly €850,000 in 2006, according to figures released by the broadcaster today.

Seven of RTÉ's top ten earners in 2006 were contractors.

Topping the list with earnings of €849,139 was Pat Kenny Media Services. Kenny presents the Late Late Showon Friday nights and a daily morning radio programme on RTÉ Radio 1. He was the station's top earner for the seventh straight year.

Gerry Ryan and Marian Finucane remain in second and third place, unchanged since 2002.

Ryan, presenter of the Gerry Ryan Showon RTÉ 2FM, was paid €558,990 through his company Balcom Management. His salary was €520,685 in 2005.

Finucane's company, Montrose Services, was paid €455,190 in 2005. Finucane, who switched from a daytime to a weekend show in May 2005, earned €436,413 the previous year.

Joe Duffy overtook Ryan Tubridy to become RTÉ's fourth-highest paid presenter. The Livelinestar's Claddaghgreen was paid €367,804 for his services in 2006; Tubridy's Trocity Productions earned €346,667.

Derek Mooney, who earned €242,408 in 2006, is the highest-paid RTÉ employee on the list.

The others making up the top 10 earners were Marty Whelan (€229,056); Prime Timepresenter Miriam O'Callaghan's Baby Blue Productions (€221,383); John Kelly (€204,675) and Six One Newsanchor Bryan Dobson (€193,610).

Whelan and Dobson nudged journalists Tommie Gorman and Charlie Bird out of the top ten in 2006.

Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Brian Cowen announced in Budget 2008 that RTÉ will get a 7 per cent increase in its funding this year, from €195 million to €208 million.

Last November, the Government approved a €2 increase in the annual television licence fee, bringing the annual cost to €160.