"He met with Media Minister Patrick O'Donovan on Tuesday afternoon after it emerged last week that broadcaster Derek Mooney was kept off RT&E;'s top 10 earners list for five years as he was classified as a producer, rather than a presenter. It emerged that Mooney has been at least its ninth-highest-paid presenter since 2020. Mr Bakhurst said that he is satisfied that "no other names" are impacted and he "went through the list in some detail today with the administrative officials to demonstrate there are no other names"."
"Mr Bakhurst, deputy director general Adrian Lynch and board chairman Terence O'Rourke met with Mr O'Donovan and his officials on Tuesday evening. It comes ahead of the national broadcaster's top brass, including Mr Bakhurst and Mr Lynch, appearing before the Oireachtas Arts Committee on Wednesday, where they are expected to face further questioning. Speaking after the two hours of talks on Tuesday, Mr Bakhurst said he is not currently "aware" of any other issues in RT&E and they will be brought "into the open" if found."
"Following his meeting with the minister, Mr Bakhurst said the organisation was being punished for disclosing issues it was trying to correct. "All I can say is, we're not aware of anything now. If we discover something, you know, we're going to put disinfectant on it, and we're going to bring it out into the open. I feel we've paid the price for transparency here" he said."
""But I hope there isn't. We're not aware of anything, that's for sure," he said. "I feel we've paid the price for transparency here. We decided to reclassify Derek [Mooney], to put that out in the public domain, to go through the process. We have paid a price for that transparency, which is the controversy in the last few days and that'"
RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst said the broadcaster has “paid the price for transparency” following a pay controversy. The issue emerged after it was revealed that Derek Mooney was kept off RTÉ’s top 10 earners list for five years because he was classified as a producer rather than a presenter. Mooney has been at least the ninth-highest-paid presenter since 2020. Bakhurst said he is satisfied that no other names are impacted and that he reviewed the list with administrative officials. He met Media Minister Patrick O’Donovan, along with other RTÉ leaders, and said any further issues will be brought into the open if discovered.
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