RTÉ director general: Sean Rocks' widow incorrect about his employment status

Catherine Bailey had said she was left in a “precarious position” as a single mother with two young children following his death

RTÉ broadcaster Seán Rocks, host of the long-running arts and culture programme Arena, who died aged 63 following a brief illness in 2025, with his widow Catherine Bailey. Photo: Sasko Lazarov/RollingNews.ie

RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst has contradicted the widow of the deceased presenter Sean Rocks, insisting that he was not “misclassified” in his role, thereby affecting his pension entitlements.

Mr Bakhurst also said that the amount of money she would have received following his death was “not an insignificant amount”.

Mr Rocks presented Arena on RTÉ Radio 1 from 2009 until his death in July 2025.

His partner, Catherine Bailey, said in May that she had been left in a “precarious position” as a single mother with two young children following his death, after receiving a pension she suggested 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.

However, appearing at the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Thursday morning, RTÉ director general dismissed the idea that Mr Rocks was misclassified.

He said RTÉ has examined the circumstances around Mr Rocks’ contract, and it has been considered by both the board and the senior leadership team.

“First of all, he was not misclassified. He was on a presenter contract the last 15 years of his career, so he was correctly classified,” the DG said.

“The second thing is, I have asked the kind of extent of the payout that Mr Rocks’ widow would have received, which, in terms of RTÉ life assurance, is not insignificant, and in terms of the likely amount he could have got from the pension fund, which would be typical on this occasion, and it's not an insignificant amount.

“I've not got permission to talk about that any further. But I did look into what was the quantum of the payout she would have received.” 

Mr Bakhurst said that RTÉ has staff who “die every year” who are on different types of contracts.

He said that some of these deceased employees include people in receipt of allowances similar to the one Mr Rocks was paid.

“I have an allowance. I know it is not pensionable, and I know it is not covered by life assurance,” Mr Bakhurst continued.

“I want to be fair to all employees, and I want to be fair to Catherine and to Sean. But I have to be fair to all employees and not give special treatment to individuals.”