'It took a large toll on him': Partner of the late Seán Rocks hits out at RTÉ over pay issue

Seán Rocks: Hosted RTÉ Radio 1 arts and culture show 'Arena' since 2009. File picture: Andres Poveda

The partner of late RTÉ presenter Seán Rocks said he was treated very differently financially compared to other presenters by the state broadcaster. 

In her first public interview, Catherine Bailey said she has been left in a “precarious position” as a single mother with two young children following his death, after receiving a pension she said did not reflect his decades of work.

Ms Bailey said Mr Rocks had been classified as a contractor and producer rather than a presenter, and worked on a series of fixed-term contracts for years. She said this meant he did not build up the same pension entitlements as directly employed colleagues.

RTÉ last week confirmed it had revised its list of the top 10 highest-earning presenters for 2024 to include Derek Mooney after it “reconsidered what constitutes a presenter”.

Mr Mooney was reclassified as a producer in 2020, so had not been accounted for in the list of RTÉ’s highest-paid presenters.

The revision places him eighth on the updated 2024 list, with earnings of just over €197,000, and seventh in 2025, with earnings exceeding €202,000.

Mr Rocks died, following a brief illness, in July last year. He was 64 and had hosted RTÉ Radio 1 arts and culture show Arena since 2009, interviewing countless high-profile actors, playwrights, authors, musicians, and artists. 

They included Salman Rushdie, Edna O'Brien, Frank McGuinness, Roddy Doyle, Rupert Everett, Martin Sheen, Nicola Coughlan, and Brendan Gleeson.

Classified as a contractor

Ms Bailey said Mr Rocks was classified as a producer rather than a presenter, and was on multiple fixed-term contracts for years. 

"Seán was classified as a contractor despite working five days a week all year round. That was not reflected in the situation — the setup of how he was paid. He knew that that left us vulnerable should anything happen to him, and he wanted that tidied up and fixed," Ms Bailey told RTÉ's Today Show with David McCullagh on Friday. 

"He just hit a brick wall every time and it was allowed to endure, and he found it very exacerbating. And he contacted colleagues and friends, and he said, 'How can I sort this?' And it really got him down. It really, really got him down, and it took a large toll on him. 

"And the misclassification is very hard to stomach when, all around him, he was getting huge praise for his work and recognition and work in the arts, and you name it. He was a very, very high-calibre broadcaster. And yet on paper, RTÉ had him down as a producer." 

Ms Bailey said said he only received permanent status with RTÉ in 2019, six years before he died.

After Mr Rocks' death, Ms Bailey had the difficult task of trying to get their affairs in order. 

"I was hardly home a day, and it struck me how deep in admin I'd have to get in, be a part of and get into. And slowly but surely, I took over the reins in this very shocked and very grief-stricken state," she said. 

"Between the utilities and whatnot, I got around to looking at the pension side of things and wrote to HR, and they got back to me in due course, quoting a number that seemed completely out of whack to Seán's earnings, and I had to question it, naturally, and I said, 'This is maybe an error. I think you're wrong. This is so out of whack. These numbers are incorrect.'

"And then I was reassured rather coldly in a very clinical letter that, 'No, this is it.' So the next port of call was to go and try and contact the board of management of RTÉ, which I did," Ms Bailey said. 

She asked the board of management to clear it up for her but hadn't heard from them for months, until HR reached out again and said, 'I'm sorry, we can't make an exception for you because it's an allowance issue.'

Ms Bailey said she would like to meet RTÉ director general Kevin Backhurst and speak about the situation. 

RTÉ, in a statement to the radio show, said Mr Bakhurst had met Ms Bailey a number of times and is more than happy to do so again. The broadcaster also said it has had frequent engagement with her in respect to her entitlements under RTÉ's group life scheme. 

"This is a scheme for all employees. It's equivalent to 2.5 times your annual salary and Seán's pension lump sum payment," it stated.