Ray D’Arcy on Thursday became the latest presenter to leave RTÉ after a string of high-profile departures.
Mr D’Arcy (61) said he was “hugely disappointed” with how management at RTÉ handled his situation. It is not yet clear what he plans to do next, but the presenter said he was looking forward “to the opportunities ahead”.
Mr D’Arcy was the second-highest paid individual at RTÉ in 2019 – behind Ryan Tubridy – but saw his salary drop from €450,000 that year to €305,000 in 2020 and 2021, after his Saturday-night chatshow came to an end. In 2022 and 2023, he was paid €250,000.
At the height of the RTÉ payment scandal in 2023, RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst brought in pay caps and announced that no one at the broadcaster would earn more than him. His current salary is €250,000, but that might increase under new Government pay structures.
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Several of the top-earning presenters have since left the broadcaster including Mr Tubridy and Joe Duffy. Claire Byrne will also soon depart, having announced her plans to move to Newstalk in the new year.
Mr Tubridy left RTÉ amid controversy in 2023 after it emerged that, between 2017 and 2022, he had received €345,000 more in payments from the broadcaster than was previously disclosed. He was already the biggest earner at RTÉ, with the extra payments bringing his income to in excess of €500,000 annually for those years.
In August, Mr Tubridy announced he had repaid RTÉ €150,000.
[ Ray D’Arcy’s parting outburst atypical of broadcaster who shunned the limelight ]
His salary when he left Montrose was significantly reduced from a peak of €752,950 in 2012. Mr Tubridy presented a morning show on RTÉ Radio 1 as well as The Late Late Show on RTÉ One.
Pat Kenny was RTÉ’s highest earner in 2012, when he was paid €728,417 before his departure for Newstalk the following year. In 2008, he had been paid €950,976.
Joe Duffy, who was RTÉ’s top earner after Mr Tubridy left, retired in June after 37 years with the broadcaster.
In 2019, Mr Duffy was paid €392,494. This dropped to €360,650 in 2020 and €351,000 in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
In August, Ms Byrne announced she was leaving RTÉ to take up a new role at Newstalk. Her salary in 2023 was €280,000, making her the second-highest earner at the station after Mr Duffy. In 2021, she earned €350,000.
RTÉ has yet to publish its 2024 annual report. In its 2023 annual report, executive salaries for senior managers were included for the first time.
Executives made up several of the broadcaster’s top 10 earners including Adrian Lynch, deputy director general, on €286,926; Richard Waghorn, director of operations, technology and transformation, on €281,750; and Deirdre McCarthy, managing director of news and current affairs, on €273,490.
Presenter Miriam O’Callaghan was number seven on the list that year, earning €263,500.
Mr Bakhurst’s salary is listed as €161,767 in 2023 as he only commenced his term midway through the year.
