RTÉ paid €655k to staff in car allowances two years after cost-cutting efforts

The new RTÉ director general, Kevin Bakhurst, himself acknowledged in the wake of his appointment that he is also in receipt of a car allowance of €25,000 on top of his €250,000 salary and pension entitlements.

RTÉ paid out more than €655,000 in car allowances to its staff in 2022, two years after embarking on a cost-cutting drive that saw salaries slashed across the board.

Some 61 staff received the allowance in 2022, at an average payment of €10,765 per head, according to figures released by the broadcaster on foot of the recent controversy concerning hidden payments to Ryan Tubridy.

More than 30 employees received allowances in excess of €10,000, with six of those receiving more than €24,000.

The figures show a 20% decline in what RTÉ was paying for its car allowances from the €822,000 paid out in 2019 — a year when the broadcaster introduced a cost-cutting drive that saw employee salaries cut by as much as 10%.

RTE’s car allowance allows an employee to park at the station’s headquarters in Montrose and covers their transit expenses in their own vehicle via the lump sum received, with staff who are not entitled to the benefit instead claiming mileage rates for work travel undertaken.

The benefit is the single largest allowance paid to the RTÉ staff body, and is provided to those in receipt of it as part of their contracts.

RTÉ paid nearly 1,100 allowances across 2022, with one presenter and non-manager, the 20 th highest-paid worker receiving €42,778 for the year in terms of benefits on top of a €158,366 salary.

The new RTÉ director general, Kevin Bakhurst, himself acknowledged in the wake of his appointment that he is also in receipt of a car allowance of €25,000 on top of his €250,000 salary and pension entitlements, but previously told the Irish Examiner that he would "consider" foregoing that allowance in solidarity with RTE’s staff.

“Look, I had to do the sums when I came here. I already said I took a relatively significant salary cut to come do this job. It’s a pretty demanding and high-profile job,” he said last month.

One of the most memorable moments from a series of Oireachtas committee hearings dealing with the scandal came when now former chief financial officer Richard Collins admitted that he wasn’t sure what his salary was, only to eventually clarify it was “in or around €200,000” with a €25,000 car allowance.