Claire Byrne says she was 'happy to stay on and work' until her contract ended, as RTE releases more details of Derek Mooney's pay

"In the interest of full transparency, with the full permission of Derek Mooney, we are now publishing the details of Derek's earnings for the years 2020 - 2023. It said that in 2020 he was paid €195,079, in 2021 €187,854, 2022 €188,885, and 2023 €192,592. Employee earnings include salaries, employer pension contribution and related benefits, RTÉ said."

"RTÉ yesterday conceded that Mooney was the 7th highest paid presenter in the organisation last year, on €202,264 - and eighth in 2024, on €197,151, when previously he had not been included in the top ten. Decisions made on the compilation of the Top 10 Highest Earning Presenters were made by RTÉ, with no involvement by Derek Mooney, RTÉ said."

"The 2025 figures also revealed that RTÉ continued to pay presenters Ray D'Arcy and Claire Byrne even after they left the organisation in October 2025. For the remainder of the year, Mr D'Arcy received €50,000 and Ms Byrne received €47,000. RTÉ Director General Kevin Bakurst said the €97,000 in payments was "totally the right decision"."

"He said RTÉ wanted to take Ms Byrne off air after she said she was leaving so it could launch its new Radio One schedule, while he characterised the timeline around Mr D'Arcy as "effectively his notice period". He said Byrne has said she was "happy to stay on and work" until the end of her contract after recent figures revealed she was paid for two months after resigning."

RTÉ confirmed it had previously excluded Derek Mooney from its yearly top 10 highest paid presenter list and later published his earnings for 2020 to 2023 with his permission. Mooney’s reported payments were €195,079 in 2020, €187,854 in 2021, €188,885 in 2022, and €192,592 in 2023. RTÉ said employee earnings include salary, employer pension contributions, and related benefits. RTÉ also acknowledged Mooney ranked seventh highest paid presenter in 2024 on €202,264 and eighth on €197,151, while earlier lists did not include him. RTÉ further reported it continued paying Ray D’Arcy and Claire Byrne after they left in October 2025, paying €50,000 to D’Arcy and €47,000 to Byrne for the remainder of the year, which the director general said was the right decision.

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