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RTÉ BROADCASTER CLAIRE Byrne has spoken out on the station’s payments scandal, saying that that she has never sought any “side deal” in her contracts with RTÉ.
Byrne said it was “heartbreaking” to hear members of the public speak about how their trust had been broken due to the controversy.
Beginning her morning radio programme by addressing the issue, Byrne outlined the details of her recent salaries with RTÉ in what she called an attempt to be “open and honest” on the topic.
“Just like everyone else, I’ve been grappling over the last few days with what has happened and the implications are that for all of us here in RTÉ, and for you, who rely on us and expect us to be completely transparent.
“I listened to Liveline on Friday, and I listened to the callers who spoke to Joe [Duffy] and I heard them talking about being disappointed about trust being broken and the importance of transparency,” she said.
“And for me, and for all the great people that I work with here every day on this show hearing that is nothing short of heartbreaking.
“Because I can tell you that as programme makers, our aim is always to be consistent, to be fair, to be professional, and to respect the hard-earned trust that you the audience has placed in us.”
She said her most recently published annual salary of €350,000 is “correct, as are those published in the past” and that her salary at present is €280,000 due to her stepping away from her Monday night television show.
“I’ve never sought, been offered or discussed any kind of commercial or side deal. No other payment exists or has ever existed beyond my published fee,” she said.
“Secondly, my most recent published fee was €350,000 and that was the fee agreed by RTÉ for me to present both this radio programme and Claire Byrne Live, and as you may know I decided not to continue with that television show for personal and for family reasons.
“And so in order to be fully transparent with you here today, I want you to know that my RTE fee now is 280,000 euro and that fee was agreed for presenting this programme.”
She said the most recent contract was negotiated by Noel Kelly, the agent whose firm NK Management handled Ryan Tubridy’s controversial contracts with RTÉ.
Byrne added that a quiz show she recently presented for RTÉ One on television quiz show – Ireland’s Smartest – saw her receive a separate fee of €25,000, which she said was also negotiated by NK Management.
“I acknowledged that fee is significant and it’s way beyond what many people could hope to and there are others who will no doubt have more to say about it, I’m sure but my personal decision here this morning is to be open and honest with you,” she said.
“Having said that, my decision to do this is not meant to set a precedent for others or to force anyone else to release their information. That’s a matter entirely for themselves. I felt that for me. It was the right thing to do this morning.”
Byrne said her absence from the programme last Thursday and Friday, as the scandal broke, was a “complete coincidence” as she had booked time away for a family break.
“I had no prior warning, no inkling that there was a problem on the horizon,” she said.
“I wasn’t even aware that presenter fees including my own were subjected to a Grant Thornton torn Thornton review. I knew absolutely nothing about it.”
The controversy arose after it was revealed on Thursday that RTÉ’s highest paid star Ryan Tubridy earned €345,000 more over the course of over six years than RTÉ had previously disclosed.
Tubridy’s annual earnings published by RTÉ between the years 2017-2022 ranged from €440,000-€491,667 but a review carried out by Grant Thornton found that his annual earnings from RTÉ in those years actually ranged from €511,667-€545,000.
The issue was partly the result of a deal which saw Tubridy receive additional income from commercial partner Renault, with that income guaranteed and underwritten by RTÉ.
The manner in which these payments were recorded led to an understatement of his earnings, with RTÉ apologising for the mistake. Tubridy himself apologised on Friday for ‘not questioning’ the published figures.
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You still get paid to much Claire
@reg morrisey: forever moaning about the cost of living, she has never tried living on an OAP, more time for Ryan than her
@reg morrisey: Why is she getting paid to much. I just posted a comment about negotiating your salary. If Claire got what she wanted then her employer agreed to that figure. If RTE said we are only playing a contract figure of let’s say €125,000 , Claire has the option then to except this figure or go elsewhere to get a contract she wants. Again as I said in an earlier post, if we were all in a position to negotiate salary terms with our employer would we be working for the income we are on now. I doubt it
@reg morrisey: no, they don’t have pay her that- she can go elsewhere if she wishes
@Margaret Deacon: I call her moaning minnie. Not a cheerful thing to say about anything
I just turn her off.
@reg morrisey: CB is a talented presenter and commands a fee that reflects that. The Irish citizen and listener benefits from the impartiality and transparency that allows her to do her job.
We don’t care, you’re STILL getting paid too much.
@Frank: Michael D living in the Phoenix Park mortgage free and probably utilities paid for by our good selves is on €250,000 down from €325,000 p/a.. is he worth it.. does he work as hard as Claire ??? . The island of begrudgers showing its true self again
@Michael Costello: One man’s ‘begrudgery’ is another man’s ‘pointing out an obscene… unethical, grossly inefficient use of taxpayer money.’
@Michael Costello: comparing Michael Higgins to a newscaster is a bit of a stretch! I think he works extremely hard and seems like a lovely man. RTE and their employees are just bleeding the taxpayer dry and not offering much in return.
@Michael Costello: Possibly for the one term he originally promised. However, he got greedy and put himself up for a second term. Nice work if you can get it. A nice little retirement home for himself and his token wife. The original champagne socialist and a charlatan to boot.
@Frank: The point I want to make is its not the individual person/employees fault that an employer had in your words “obscene,unethical ” wage structure. I agree with you , but it’s not Claire fault. No employee is going into an employer and say , you know what, I’m being grossly overpaid, please reduce my wage. If she did this she would have more haters getting on her back. ” who does she think she is, rich b***h, etc etc. So your right let’s look at the employer and sort them out .
Each of the 10 top employees should not be on any more than €100,000 and an RTE-only contract if they do not like that let them leave for the commercial sector… each contract has to be transparent and open to public scrutiny…we who pay the TV license have no option but to pay.
Do RTE only think now that the trust has been broken. My god the people there don’t live in the real world and know what’s going on
@Shaun Gallagher: you’re right, they don’t live in the real world…D4!
Poor, poor Claire – she’s only getting €280,000 a year now, for speaking on the radio. We should set up a GoFundMe for her, it can’t be easy getting a €70,000 pay-cut. We need to all come together and help her get back on her poor feet.
@Frank: what are you on about?
@Balloon Boy: I’m saying Claire is clearly going through a tough time, financially – so we should all come together and help her out. €280,000 a year is only like… €5500 a week, every week, of every year, of every decade – it can’t be easy for her. She used to be on €6750 a week, and now that has been DECIMATED to only €5500 a week, every week, of every year, of every decade – for speaking on the radio. It’s not right, so we need to come together to help her back on to her poor, poor feet.
@Frank: I understand the hilarious joke you’re trying to make, but she didn’t actually complain about her salary. She’s way overpaid, but no need to start making stuff up.
@Frank: Worth considering the taxes too. We love a good moan at salaries pre tax but don’t forget she’ll be paying 140k back.
@Balloon Boy: I thought she sounded embarrassed about her income. Momentarily, and for show. But as posters here never tire of saying: would you turn down the money?
@Balloon Boy: Where did I make anything up? She used to receive €350,000 – now she only receives €280,000, that’s a €70,000 pay-cut. She used to receive, in one year, what would take the average person 10 years to earn, now – the average person would have to work only 8 years of hard, often back-braking work to earn the same – this is outrageous. Solidarity with Claire and all of the RTÉ workers.
@Frank: the pay drop was due to her giving up her tv work
@thesaltyurchin: I doubt it. Are these presenters not setting up companies that contract themselves to RTE in order to reduce their tax liability.
@Alan Leahy: nope, be taxed at source… A brighter accountancy brain might be able to explain the anomaly where you’re paid from taxes, by the collector and that salary is in-turn taxed again (sort of pointless to present state jobs as gross really).
@Frank: How about we spring for a new shed for her? There is no way in hell she can afford a shed on €280,000 a year.
@Pauline Gallagher: Ah that’s a lovely idea, I’m sure she’d love that – let’s make it happen! See what happens when we come together folks? Sure… it’s only one RTÉ presenter, and they all probably could do with some help – but it’s a start. I just read this evening there, that Brendan O’Connor is only on… get this: €245,000 per year. Apparently he only has 4 hours a week in there, the poor man. That’s only works out around €1200 an hour. Claire has it tough, we all do – but poor Brendan… I don’t know how he’s keeping it together, on that sort of money. There’s something seriously wrong in our society when we can’t look after our Radio Presenters properly, something seriously, seriously wrong.
@Frank: It must be even harder for her to realise that her pay cut was handed to Tubridy instead!
Scared Bird , I mean Clare Byrne was like side show bob throughout the covid madness. It was like watching a parallel universe on her tv show.
Whats happening in our tea?
@colm: a bit of a storm it seems..
O pity about you Claire you get obscene money for doing nothing
Public broadcaster service should be a simple service not a gravy train for a few . Time to reform it . Let’s see the “talent” get snapped up by multinationals as they keep saying.
25k for a two days work . Nothing wrong with that .
You wonder what the Virgin media presenters think of all of this
Well done Claire on your honesty. Not many come out with their earnings, which is unfortunate.
280k a year ………so I pay my TV license to
Help RTE pay her salary.
Amazing country
@ibrahim Sudane: Claire B goes for a job in a retail store paying minimum wage contract and she is successful as the employer deems she has the skill set to do the job.. A.N.Other goes for the same position and to is successful as again the employer deems she has the skill set to do the job.. Claire B goes for a €250,000 job in RTE and is successful as the employer deems she has the skill set to do the job.. A.N.Other goes for same job but is unsuccessful as the employer deems they don’t have the skill set to do the job.. where is there a problem here
Of course not she was too busy in her ‘shed’ spreading the fear porn.
@McMahon G: certainly due a scaremonger bonus!
Noel Kelly seems to be the problem here , the minute someone shows any sort of talent he hoovers them up and negotiates some obscene wage , cap the wages , simple as
@John O Reilly: Wonder what Patrick Kielty is getting?
She got a separate fee of 25k.
She is just as bad as Tubridy .
@Peter McCormack: they probably think…” they are on all that extra money in RTE and we have to work with Alan Hughes ..”
Covid Claire probably got a Barna Shead and thought she was winning.
Anyone know what Patrick Kielty is getting?
Whatever transpires… and we please please keep Lyric FM!?! Sublime station 24/7
How much does the bleedin Angelus cost
@david finglas: you can be damn sure the church aren’t paying for it anyway
@pkunzip doom2.zip: well it has nothing to do with the church or the Angelus, now does it? This is woke RTE and this is now a time of reflection for all religions and none.
This discussion should be about transparency
Of salaries not about people taking cheap shots at people just because they personally don’t like them.Look in the mirror and see if you’re such a hot shot
Main reason why Rte is cash strapped is because they feel its to overpay a joe a Claire & ryan whose combined wages add to nearly a million. Yet they want to increase license fee well food luck with that.
Rte is a small sized broadcaster in country with a small population so why is it paying British broadcast salaries. No one is ever going to poach these broadcasters as nobody outside Ireland knows who they are
I would firstly say fair play to her to coming and speaking about it. I’d also say fair play to her for negotiating such a salary. We all would 100% do the same. That said I think it’s time for RTE to go it alone or close down, bulldoze the RTE campus and put modular homes there instead for our homeless or sorry I mean for every Tom/Dick and Harry who are not our homeless but take priority.
@Richard Carroll: are you, Richard, one of those ‘Dicks’?
Yeah right
There all coming outta the woodwork now
One of the Poor Claires should sue RTE for not having the same deal as Tubs along with PoorJoe, Poor Miriam, Poor Ray, Gerry Ryan’s Poor daughter, I can’t remember her name etc.
Shes a presenter not a producer & sits and presses buttons &getting that much and she doesn’t deny it fine hand 200,00 50 k is by far enough to be earning. So disheartening to see such a massive amount of money been wasted
Not 1 presenter in rte should be on that sort of money.
Scare Byrne terrified the auld ones telling them they would be getting their hair done if lucky in a box with face nappies, gloves etc etc. Despicable doom mongering
Round about 100 euro per hour.
Dream land for most
99% of the comments here are off the target.
As a contractor, ANY contractor, you try to get as much as you can from your employer.
Everyone complaining here would exactly do the same, without exception.
It is solely RTE to blame, living in their own cloud.
It seems they have still the same attitude from the housing boom.
Remember, when house prices were posted as a success story when they reached the level of London?
This is the same mind set: Our Presenters are as expensive than the ones in the BBC
= “we’re on the same level”.
RTE needs to be cleaned out, contracts re-negotiated and halved for a lot of them.
If they’re not happy, I’m pretty sure there’re good replacements waiting in the queue.
Admittedly, I’m not as well informed as most of the commenters, but I did a Google search of top BBC presenters and top Canadian presenters on CBC and Claire’s salary seems on par with similar posts in those countries. I am astonished at Ryan’s salary. Apart from Linnekar and ZoeB, he makes more than the 3rd highest presenter on BBC. Don Cherry, Canadian icon and national treasure, makes less. I really don’t think many people would disagree that Ryan is awkward and cringe, and the comment he made a few years ago on the radio about women getting fat as soon as they get a ring on their finger turned me off of him completely. I’m confused as to who decides who is that valuable? At a family gathering this weekend, I was told they pay these people so much so they won’t go to BBC. Really?
All should come out and declare their deals. Where is the 50m the whistleblower mentioned? Her payment is fair enough, she is far better than Tubridy or Darcy.
I partly read this story but i like Clair Burn and her programs and just my opinion i think she should have got the Late show Job or at least a talk show that is controversial or even dave Fanning should get a show that people want to watch in stead of all this right wing bull shit were watching with sky and virgin media, No one should have to reveal their salaries or address on the T.V for one it puts them and their family in direct danger from the criminal world and two its none of anyone’s business if Ryan Tubs was a bad at his job then he would not be on the ,money he is on but he was good at his job that’s why he got side deals it happens in all walks of life and jobs and Leo is no one to call anyone out about because FF/FG do the same if you don’t fit their moulid for a certain job or business then they give it to some one who does and that goes for houses as well, there are worse things happening in the country at the moment so deal with those issues first,
@daniel keane: are you for real??. If Claire Byrne got the Late Late show it would be over in no time. She is a daily moan. We need a bit of entertsinment,not this constant flow of negativity. Listen to lyric,,with Marty Whelan and his lovely music and positive attitude
Do you know what is the best part? They think they deserve to be overpaid because they are more special than anybody else, EUR 23.000 per month!!!
@Pavel Shipilov:
Their agent is doing the negotiation. If you can get it, sure, everyone would take it.
It is not their fault, but RTE splashing out the cash.
If you apply for a 40k job, ask for 60k and they say “okay” – would YOU complain,
even when in your head you’re thinking “man, they overpay”?
For sure you will take the money without a blink of the eye.
@Wolfgang Bonow: Anyone with any integrity wouldn’t ask for more than they think they are worth. And the people getting a 40k job and immediately trying to negotiate a salary of 60k, who are THESE people?
Nurses is leaving this country because of their salary and this people doing nothing just like parrot repit repit and repit to entertain your brain.wake up people
Wow, nothing like your RTE colleagues having your back. Ryan wouldn’t know anything about that. They’re all rich, its all taxpayers money, and none of them are worth the amount they are paid, so they can all stop being so faux outraged and sanctimonious about how transparent they are.
She said she had “never sough any side deals.”
So she never sought it, but that doesn’t mean she never received anything.
CB is a talented presenter and commands a fee that reflects that. The Irish citizen and listener benefits from the impartiality and transparency that allows her to do her job.
A suggestion, does any body think this whole controversy about pay scales in RTE, is a distraction, designed by the government, to distract the general public about the seriousness of the Real problem, namely the Asylum Seekers. Just food for thought.
Gorgeous
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