RTÉ HAS OUTLINED details of how much it pays to its biggest earners – with around 70% of the top 100 salaries at the broadcaster being paid to its management or executives.

The information was contained in a series of documents submitted to TDs ahead of RTÉ’s appearance before the Oireachtas Media Committee tomorrow.

The documents were sent as it emerged that a review of RTÉ’s finances had uncovered the use of more barter accounts by the broadcaster.

A list of ten documents was requested by the committee last week, including details of the previously unreported deal between Ryan Tubridy and Renault which has led to weeks of controversy and political fallout for the broadcaster.

One of the documents provided to the committee relates to money paid to RTÉ’s top earners. The committee had requested a list of the 100 highest-paid earners at the broadcaster and their salaries.

These were provided in anonymised form, with RTÉ’s interim director general Adrian Lynch telling committee members that a number of individuals contacted the broadcaster’s Data Protection Office to express concerns about the request.

“RTÉ is mindful of its obligations to the committee but is also mindful of obligations to its staff and, accordingly, we are taking advice in respect of these competing obligations before proceeding further,” he said, explaining the redaction of names.

According to the details provided, data on the top 100 earners relates to 84 employees and 16 contractors (which include presenters like Tubridy, who are not employed by RTÉ in a traditional sense but through their own companies).

The top 100 salaries at the broadcaster range from €515,000 to €116,851. Of those, ten people are executives, while 59 individuals hold other management roles. The remaining 31 high-earners are presenters.

Figures show that four of the top ten highest-earners at the broadcaster are executives. The highest-earning executive earns €275,000 a year, including a €25,000 allowance, higher than all but three people at the company (who are all presenters).

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Six presenters feature in the top ten highest-earners, but there are just another nine presenters in the remaining top 50 earners, with the remainder made up of members of the executive board and RTÉ management. 

Other documents sent to the committee include Patrick Kielty’s contract for The Late Late Show, documents relating to the tri-partite agreement and details of discounts supplied to RTÉ’s commercial partners.

The committee also asked for a ten-year record of the first barter account, clarification about where barter account was used since 2016 and full expenditure relating to Toy Show The Musical.

However, these documents were not supplied as they were still being financially verified.

With reporting by Christina Finn