Kenny tops RTÉ earners at €849,000

PAT KENNY continues to be RTÉ's highest-paid presenter, with the latest figures showing that he earned €849,139 in 2006.

This was an increase of almost €63,000 on the previous year for the presenter of The Late Late Show on television and the Today with Pat Kenny radio programme.

RTÉ's top three on-air earners have remained the same since 2002. Gerry Ryan was in second place, on €558,990 in 2006, for his 2FM morning show and the Ryan Confidential television programme.

Marian Finucane, who switched from her daytime to weekend show a year earlier, retained her position in third place when she earned €455,190 in 2006.

Liveline's Joe Duffy saw a major increase in earnings in 2006 when he pushed Ryan Tubridy from fourth place with his earnings of €367,804. This was an increase of almost €100,000 on the previous year.

While Ryan Tubridy dropped one place in the rankings, he also saw an increase in salary of €18,667, to €346,667. Like Pat Kenny, he presents a morning radio show five days a week and a weekend television show.

All five top earners are engaged as contractors by the station. Derek Mooney was the highest-paid RTÉ employee in 2006, coming in at sixth place, with earnings of €242,408.

The figures for all presenters include amounts earned under contract and any additional presenter services in 2006, irrespective of when the money was paid.

Marty Whelan was seventh on the list in 2006 with earnings of €229,056. He was presenting the 2FM breakfast show at that time, as well as several once-off television shows such as Celebrity Jigs 'n' Reels and the Eurovision Song Contest. Prime Time's Miriam O'Callaghan slipped from sixth to eighth on the list in 2006 although her earnings increased by just over €3,000 to €221,383.

John Kelly, whose Mystery Train radio programme was controversially dropped during 2006, earned €204,675 in that year, slipping from eighth to ninth place. He moved across to present the JK Ensemble on Lyric FM later that year while continuing to present The View television show.

Six One News's Bryan Dobson was the highest-paid newsroom presenter on the list, with earnings of €193,610, placing him 10th.

His colleagues Tommie Gorman and Charlie Bird, who appeared in ninth and 10th places on the list in 2005, did not make the top 10 earners in 2006.

In May 2004, RTÉ began releasing its top presenters' earnings after years of keeping the salaries a closely guarded secret. In 2002 it released its top 27 presenters' earnings but did not specify who earned what. In 2002 RTÉ paid its top 10 earners €2,525,314 compared with €3,668,922 for its top 10 earners in 2006.