Six top-earning presenters in RTÉ use companies to charge for their services

Six of RTÉ’s 10 highest-paid presenters use companies to charge for their services, a mechanism that can convey tax and pension advantages.

The station’s highest-paid presenter in 2022, according to figures published on Monday by the national broadcaster, was former host Ryan Tubridy, who received €515,000 (unchanged from 2021).

The latest filed accounts for Tubridy’s company, Tuttle Productions Ltd, show a loss for 2022 of €1,318, against a profit in the previous year of €13,629. However, they also show that the company, of which Tubridy is one of two directors, paid directors’ remuneration of €441,720 in 2022, of which €14,720 comprised pension contributions.

The other director of the company is Catherine Tubridy, the broadcaster’s mother. The company’s registered address is in Monkstown, Co Dublin.

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Joe Duffy, the station’s second-highest earner in 2022, was paid €351,000 that year (also unchanged from 2021). The latest filed accounts for his company Claddaghgreen Ltd, with an address in Clontarf, Dublin 3, are for the year to the end of April 2023. They state that there were no employees other than the two directors, Duffy and his wife, June Meehan.

Directors’ remuneration during the year was €270,000, the same as the previous year, according to the abridged accounts. No profit figure is given for the year but accumulated profits at the end of the period, €583,086, were higher than at the end of the previous year (€520,441).

Claire Byrne was the third-highest paid presenter on RTÉ in 2022, earning €320,833 (down from €350,000 in 2021). Her company, Bray, Co Wicklow-based Derrough Media Ltd, declared a loss of €7,092 in the year to the end of October 2022, according to the abridged accounts. It had accumulated losses of €4,198 at the end of the period. The directors of the company are Byrne and her husband, Gerry Scollan. No figure is given for directors’ remuneration.

Speaking on her radio show on Monday, Claire Byrne said she wished to clarify that she had been paid €350,000 for doing her morning radio show and her Claire Byrne Live TV show but the latter ceased broadcasting in May 2022. She said her annual fee subsequently dropped to €280,000 and it currently stood at this level.

The fourth-highest paid presenter in 2022, Miriam O’Callaghan, who earned €263,500 (unchanged from 2021), is the sole director of Rathgar, Dublin 6-based Baby Blue Productions Ltd. It had accumulated losses of €27,668 at the end of 2022, according to the company’s abridged financial statement. No profit figure is given and no figure for director’s remuneration is disclosed.

Ray Darcy, the fifth-highest paid presenter, was paid €250,000 in 2022 (down from €305,000 in 2021). His company, Whatnext Productions Ltd, reported a profit for 2022 of €7,294. It had accumulated profits of €12,964 at the end of the period, according to the latest abridged accounts for the company, which has an address in Milltown, Dublin 14. D’Arcy is the company’s sole director and no figure for director’s remuneration is disclosed.

Brendan O’Connor, who earned €245,004 from RTÉ in 2022 (unchanged from 2021), is co-director of BOC Communications Ltd, along with his wife, Sarah Caden. The latest accounts for the company, which is based in Sandymount, Dublin 4, are abridged and disclose a profit for the year of €32,421. No figure for directors’ remuneration is disclosed.

The other four figures on the list of 10 highest-paid earners are RTÉ employees. Bryan Dobson, the veteran broadcaster who recently announced he would retire from RTÉ at the end of April after nearly four decades, was the highest paid employee, earning €209,681 in 2022 (unchanged from 2021). He was followed by Mary Wilson (€197,643 in 2022, up from €196,961 the previous year), sports presenter Darragh Maloney (€184, 501 in 2022, up from €183,738), and environment correspondent George Lee (€179, 821 in 2022, up from €179,131).

Revelations that RTÉ had previously made €225,000 in payments to Mr Tubridy, which it did not disclose in its annual table of top earners, sparked a major controversy that has rocked the broadcaster since last summer. Negotiations between Mr Tubridy and RTÉ over a new contract later broke down, leading him to leave the broadcaster and later take up a job with Virgin Radio in the UK.

Adrian Lynch, RTÉ deputy director general, said the organisation had committed that going forward no one would earn more than the director general Kevin Bakhurst, which would mean a basic salary cap of €250,000.

It is expected reductions in the pay of presenters currently earning above that cap will take place during future negotiations when contracts are due for renewal.

RTÉ has said in future it plans to publish the list of its top ten earners along with its annual report, meaning the top earner figures covering 2023 will be published later this year.

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