"The latest embarrassment for the national broadcaster came about because it did not include separate producer fees paid to presenter when calculating the pay of its top 10 highest earners in previous years, from 2020 to 2024. It means the Mooney Goes Wild presenter should have featured in the 2024 top 10 list, at No 8 on €197,151. Last year he was at No.7, being paid €202,264."
"Revealing that the discrepancy only came to light at RTÉ HQ "in the last three or four weeks", Mr Bahkhurst said he stands by the revised salary lists covering the last five years. "We actually took independent legal advice when the issue arose in the last few weeks about the decision that was taken in 2020 and the legal advice was it was a perfectly justifiable decision, given that Derek's contract is as executive producer. But we take a different view. We think transparency is really important and most people know Derek as a presenter, and I think we'd expect him to be classified as presenter, even though I think the majority of his work is as an executive producer.""
"Asked if the reclassification was a side deal to avoid pay cuts from 2020, Mr Bakhurst said: "No, I don't think it was." In 2021, the RTÉ pay scale dictated that producer roles could earn a maximum amount of €90,000 per year. Mr Mooney was listed last year as earning a total of €202,264, implying that the majority of his salary knowingly came from presenting duties."
"However, due to the Mr Mooney's "hybrid" role of both presenter and producer between 2020 and 2024, Mr Bakhurst said that his contract covered both roles. "His salary always covered both those things, and his role changed over the years, and changed when he came off the weekday slot on RTÉ One, and it changed at the moment, and he's "
Separate producer fees paid to a presenter were not included when calculating the pay of the top 10 highest earners from 2020 to 2024. The omission meant the presenter should have appeared in the 2024 top 10 list at No 8 with €197,151, rather than being excluded. The revised figures include Claire Byrne at €280,000, Patrick Kielty at €266,323, and Miriam O’Callaghan at €244,797. The discrepancy was identified at headquarters in the prior three or four weeks, and revised lists were produced for the last five years. Legal advice in 2020 supported the original approach because the contract was as executive producer, but transparency concerns led to a different classification. The reclassification was denied as a side deal to avoid pay cuts.
Read at Irish Independent
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