Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Dublin Live
Dublin Live
Entertainment
Laura Lyne

Ryan Tubridy tops RTE's highest earners once again as Claire Byrne jumps up list

Ryan Tubridy once again leads the list for RTE's highest earners as the figures for 2020 and 2021 are published today.

The Late Late Show presenter was paid €440k in 2021 through his company Tuttle Productions Ltd. It's a €45k drop from 2019 when he was paid €495k and a slight decrease from 2020 when he was paid €466, 250.

Claire Byrne has seen a significant increase in her income from RTE and she jumps to third on the list. Her pay increased to €350k in 2021 after sitting at seventh place with €250k in 2019 and fourth in 2020 with €282,917.

Read more: RTE's top ten earners as Ryan Tubridy banks almost €500,000 yearly

Ray D'arcy has dropped to the fourth position with €305k while Joe Duffy retains the second place with €351k. Aine Lawlor briefly appeared in the list in 2020 at the 10th spot with €183,662.

While George Lee joined the list in 2021 with €179,131. The overall pay for the top 10 in 2020 was €2,713,404 - a 16% decrease from 2019 when it was €3,219,738.

But in 2021 it increased slightly to €2,723,616. Despite the jump it was still 15% below the 2019 figure and in line with the company's commitment to pay reductions.

RTÉ Director-General Dee Forbes said: “Today we are publishing the fees paid to RTÉ's highest-paid presenters for 2020 and 2021, which confirms a total reduction of more than 15%. Our presenters play an important role in RTÉ's provision of vital news, information and entertainment to audiences right across the country and enable us to generate commercial revenue which is essential to fund RTÉ's public services.

"We are aware that the fees of high-profile presenters attract considerable public interest. Over the past 15 years RTÉ has reduced these fees by c. 40%. We continue to keep them under review."

Here's the top 10 RTE earners for 2020 and 2021:

RTE Top 10 earners for 2020 and 2021 compared to 2019 (RTE)

Read next:

Sign up to the Dublin Live Newsletter to get all the latest Dublin news straight to your inbox.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.