Kenny tops RTÉ's best-paid list earning €729,604

PAT KENNY remains RTÉ’s top-paid presenter, according to the latest salary figures which were released by the broadcaster yesterday evening.

Kenny earned €729,604 in 2009, down €221,372 or 23 per cent on 2008, when his salary peaked at €950,976.

The decrease coincided with his decision to give up the flagship Late Late Showthat year.

It is the first time in two years that RTÉ has agreed to publish the fees it pays to its top 10 presenters.

In 2009, under pressure because of the recession, it published both the 2007 and 2008 figures, but has now reverted to its original position that it will only publish figures two years behind for commercial reasons.

An RTÉ spokesman said the 2010 figures would be released next year.

RTÉ director general Noel Curran recently said its top earners will all have to take a 30 per cent pay cut by 2013 as their contracts come up for renewal.

Joe Duffy has already stated that he has taken such a cut.

The issue of presenters’ salaries has been very controversial for RTÉ and Mr Curran admitted in a recent speech that they were paid too much money in the boom years.

RTÉ’s top-paid presenters agreed to take a voluntary cut of 10 per cent in 2009 because of the recession. However, the cuts did not come into place until July of 2009, RTÉ said. The 10 per cut was taken on what they would have earned in 2009 rather than what they earned in 2008.

After Kenny, the next highest earner in 2009 was the late Gerry Ryan, who earned €585,944. This was a 7 per cent decrease, or €43,921, on the €629,865 he earned in 2008.

Ryan Tubridy moved from being the fourth highest to third highest-paid RTÉ presenter in 2009.

However, his overall income dropped from €533,333 to €519,667, despite taking over the Late Late Show.

Traditionally, the Late Late Showpresenter is also RTÉ's highest-paid presenter, and next year's figures are likely to reflect that fact.

Marian Finucane, whose fee of €570,000 is particularly controversial because she only broadcasts four hours a week, saw a 10 per cent reduction to €513,270.

RTÉ Livelinepresenter Joe Duffy's fee went from €408,889 in 2008 to €389,314 in 2009, a decrease of just under 5 per cent.

Miriam O’Callaghan saw a similar small cut in her fee from €301,667 in 2008 to €290,625 in 2009, a decrease of €11,042 or 3.6 per cent.

She took on the Miriam Meetsprogramme in 2009 and said she was not being paid extra for it.

Derek Mooney is RTÉ’s seventh highest-paid employee earning €268,985 in 2009 – a decrease of about 6.2 per cent on the €286,809 he earned in 2008.

His salary was cut in line with other RTÉ employees on the same wage scale.

Eamon Dunphy is the biggest faller in the top 10. The €225,485 he earned in 2009 is a 31 per cent drop on the €328,051 he earned in 2008. The drop reflects the end of his Conversations with Eamon Dunphyprogramme on RTÉ Radio One in 2009.

Seán O’Rourke suffered the smallest decrease of the top-10 earners, going from €218,656 to €214,084 in 2009, a drop of just 2 per cent despite also being an RTÉ employee.

The only newcomer to the top 10 is 2fm presenter Colm Hayes who joined the station from FM104 in 2007. He earned €213,954 in 2009.

He presented the 2fm morning breakfast show with his fellow presenter Jim-Jim until Gerry Ryan’s death. He now presents a programme between 11am and 1pm.