Number of RTÉ staff earning over €100k rises to 119

Dee Forbes had a basic salary of €225,000 in 2021. Picture: Maxwells 

RTÉ paid 119 staff members in excess of €100,000 in basic salary last year. 

Figures, published by the broadcaster, show that 22 of the 119 workers earned between €150k and €250k.

The remaining 97 earned between €100k and €150k.

The figures do not include RTÉ’s top earners, including Ryan Tubridy, Joe Duffy, and Ray D’Arcy, who are independent contractors and are paid through companies that they have established.

The most recent available figures show that in 2019, Ryan Tubridy received €495k, followed by Ray D’Arcy who received €450k, with Joe Duffy’s firm receiving €392,494.

One of the 22 RTÉ staff members in the €150,000 to €250,000 earning bracket in 2021 was director-general Dee Forbes.

During 2021, Ms Forbes had a basic salary of €225,000 and a car allowance of €25,000 which, along with pension contributions of €56,000, brought her overall package to €306,000.

Salary reductions

Ms Forbes received no performance-related pay in 2021 and 2020 and a note attached to the 2021 annual report states that “as part of cost reduction initiatives prior to the onset of the global pandemic, the members of the Executive had agreed to a salary reduction of 10%”.

The 119 RTÉ staff members earning over €100,000 last year is an increase of two on the 117 in that bracket for 2020.

Last year, a further 179 RTÉ staff members earned between €80,000 and €100,000.

New figures show that average pay at the broadcaster last year was €60,686 — a decrease of €67 on the average salary of €60,753 in 2020.

The figures show that 550 staff earned between €60,000 and €80,000 with the largest cohort, at 740 people, earning between €40,000 and €60,000.

A further 283 earned salaries between “€0 to €40,000”.

In the year under review, RTÉ staff overwhelmingly voted against a proposal by management for pay cuts ranging from 3.5% to 5.35% for any staff member earning over €40,000.

A spokesman for RTÉ said on Monday: "The average salary in RTÉ in 2021 has decreased compared to 2020. 

Changes in salary bands are a result of normal annual movements across the organisation, including retirements.

The release of the salary bands by RTÉ follows the broadcaster’s annual report, showing that the number of staff increased last year by five, from 1,866 to 1,871.

The broadcaster’s wage and salary bill last year declined marginally from €122.75m to €121.84m.