RTÉ Livelinepresenter Joe Duffy has revealed that he has taken a 30 per cent pay cut which came into force at the beginning of October.
Duffy was the fifth-highest paid presenter in RTÉ in 2008, the last year for which figures are available, earning €408,889.
A 30 per cent reduction would bring his fee back to €286,222.
Mr Duffy said he agreed to the cut two months ago as requested by RTÉ management and those cuts came into force on October 1st. “That’s what they asked for and that is what they get,” he told TV3’s Midweek programme.
He conceded that the type of fees paid to RTÉ’s top presenters were not popular with the public and there was great public interest in the subject.
“I’m not under any illusion that there is any public support out there for our fees,” he said.
On Monday, RTÉ director general Noel Curran conceded that the station would probably lose some of its top presenters as a result of the cuts, but they would be replaced by new talent.
Mr Duffy said Mr Curran could not have been referring to him as he had already agreed to the cuts.
He had taken three since September 2008, he added.
Instead, he suggested that Mr Curran should have named the presenters he was referring to.
He defended the money paid to Pat Kenny in 2008 which was €950,976 and who was then RTÉ’s top-paid presenter. “Pat did not go in and defraud somebody. He got it fair and square,” he said. Duffy said his show was the second most popular in the schedule with two million listeners every week and was a revenue earner for RTÉ.
When questioned by presenter Colette Fitzpatrick as to whether there was an element of a “L’Oreal – because we’re worth it” attitude among RTÉ’s top-paid presenters, he responded: “Of course everybody believes they are worth it. Compared to a firefighter or a nurse, are we worth it? No.”
