Senior management at RTÉ now dominate the list of its highest paid staff, the broadcaster confirmed ahead of its annual report being published on Wednesday.
According to a list of earnings of RTÉ’s “permanent leadership team” and a list for its highest-earning presenters for 2025, the now former RTÉ Radio presenter Claire Byrne was the only on-air talent to be among the highest paid at Montrose.
RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst previously said pay for executives and presenters would be capped at his own basic salary level of €250,000.
This is expected to increase to €270,000 this year, under a pay increase due to be signed off on by Government. Minister for Media Patrick O’Donovan’s department has asked the Department of Public Expenditure to sanction Bakhurst’s salary increase.
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The director general was the highest paid person at RTÉ in 2025. He earned €339,538 from a basic salary of €250,000, €62,500 in pension payments, €25,000 in allowances and €2,038 in what was described as “other” payments.
Bakhurst was followed by Adrian Lynch, deputy director general, who was a high-profile figure that represented the broadcaster during the fallout from the payments scandal. He earned a total of €293,627 in 2025.
Richard Waghorn, chief technology officer, was paid €291,160, and Deirdre McCarthy, director of news and current affairs, received a total of €285,063.
The only presenter to feature in the top 10 highest earners in 2025 was Claire Byrne, who has departed for a role at Newstalk. Her company, Derrough Media, was paid €280,000 for the “services of Claire Byrne” in 2025.
The sixth-highest paid person was Mari Hurley, chief financial officer, who resigned her role earlier this year after 18 months and was paid a total of €276,344 in 2025.
An RTÉ spokesman said “newly appointed members of the leadership team had no allowances, such as car allowances, on top of their salaries”.
Figures for the highest paid executives all include pension payments and allowances of between €19,000 and €25,000.
The final five highest paid staff members are all executives, and their total pay packet includes pension payments.
They include Steve Carson, who returned to RTÉ as director of video in 2024, who was paid €276,282, as well as Eimear Cusack, director of human resources, who faced scrutiny during the payments scandal and had announced she was leaving RTÉ this year, who earned €274,721.
The list also features Gavin Deans, who joined RTÉ as its commercial director at the end of 2023, and Patricia Monahan, who left a senior role at Newstalk to become RTÉ’s director of audio in 2024, who both received €269,055.
RTÉ created an executive role in 2025 when it appointed Eleanor O’Shaughnessy as its chief risk and compliance officer. The creation of this role was a key recommendation in an independent review of the governance and culture at RTÉ.
O’Shaughnessy, who started her role last summer, received a total of €75,961 last year as a partial annual salary.
The top five highest paid on-air presenters at RTÉ in 2025 were Claire Byrne (€280,000); Patrick Kielty (€266,323); Miriam O’Callaghan (€244,797); Brendan O’Connor (€239,988); and the now former RTÉ presenter Ray D’Arcy (€219,992).
All of the top five paid presenters were paid via their production companies rather than as individuals.
A spokesman for RTÉ said its financial performance “reflects continued resilience in commercial revenues, robustly controlled headcount costs, the delivery of additional in-year cost savings, and the deferral of certain planned projects into 2026″.
