RTÉ's Director General Kevin Bakhurst said he believes the broadcaster has "paid the price for transparency" over the payments controversy involving presenter and producer Derek Mooney.
Mr Bakhurst made the comments as he confirmed only Mr Mooney and the late Sean Rocks have been linked in any way to the re-classification controversy and that no other individuals are involved, insisting: "If we discover something then we're not going to hide it."
Earlier, the partner of Mr Rocks confirmed she met Minister for Communications Patrick O'Donovan yesterday to express concern over the classification of his work at the broadcaster.
Mr Rocks' partner, Catherine Bailey, told Mr O'Donovan that the RTÉ Radio 1 Arena presenter was primarily classified as a producer with the station, even though his role was as presenter of the nightly arts programme.
Ms Bailey said this has had implications for her and her family since his death in July last year.
Mr Bakhurst, Deputy Director General Adrian Lynch and RTÉ Board chair Terence O'Rourke met Mr O'Donovan for more than two hours, during which the minister said RTÉ should "consider" publishing a top 100 salary list and asked if there are "any more landmines".
The meeting was requested after it emerged that Mr Mooney was not included in RTÉ's top 10 highest-earning presenters for 2024 when he ought to have been.
Mr Bakhurst said RTÉ is committed to transparency over its finances.
However, asked about the latest situation occurring three years after the initial financial controversy at the organisation, he said: "I feel we've paid the price for transparency here, to re-classify Derek [Mooney], to put that out in the public domain, we have paid a price for that transparency which is the controversy in the last few days.
"And that's disappointing for me because I do want to drive transparency. If we pay that kind of price when we discover something we want to put right and put it in the public domain, you know, it's not an incentive to be more transparent."
Mr Bakhurst separately said he is sure no other individual is involved in the latest RTÉ financial controversy.
He said: "Yes, we've gone through that and in fact went through the [presenters' pay] list in some detail with the minister and officials to demonstrate there are no other names."
When asked if he can be 100% sure this situation will not change into the future, he said: "We can only give same answer, we don't know of anyone else, if we discover something then we're not going to hide it.
"If we discover something, we're going to put disinfectant on it."
Mr Bakhurst rejected suggestions Minister O'Donovan was not immediately told of the latest payments controversy.
He said after he and colleagues went through the timeline with the minister "at the end I think he said he was satisfied it was not kept from the department".
Read more: Leinster House abuzz as RTÉ payments circus back in spotlight
The RTÉ Director General said his own potential salary increase from €250,000 to €270,000, which remains under review by the Department of Public Expenditure, was not raised at the meeting, but said: "The Director General's salary hasn't been increased in a long time and I don't know where that is in the process, but it's not my decision."
He accepted the situation of recent days "doesn't help" to build public trust, but argued RTÉ has been "making really good progress with that".
Mr Bakhurst was also asked about Sam Whipple, the outside official brought into RTÉ in recent weeks to examine where future efficiencies could be found in the organisation.
Mr Bakhurst confirmed he knew him "many years ago" in the BBC and declined to confirm Mr Whipple's own payment.
When asked about current Late Late Show host Patrick Kielty, he said: "I'd love to keep Patrick, he's great", before confirming the broadcaster also has "other contingencies" if necessary.
When Mr O'Donovan was asked in a separate press conference if he believed that a line had been drawn in terms of RTÉ controversies after 2023, he said: "So did I."
Mr O'Donovan said: "I've asked RTÉ on the way out is there any other landmines I should be made aware of, to which they have responded to me by saying not that they're aware of any.
"So to be fair to the representatives of the organisation, I take them at their word that this is what they have said what they're aware of, they don't have any information on anything else, and I take them at their word on that."
Mr O'Donovan said he can "only deal with what happens in the here and now" and that he is keen to progress plans to place RTÉ under the auspices of the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) via legislation that will go before the Dáil "in the coming weeks".
The Minister for Communications rejected Opposition criticism of Government inaction on the issue to date, saying the C&AG plan has been part of a bill that has already gone to pre-legislative scrutiny and had included 84 recommendations.
Watch: RTÉ staff 'very aggrieved' over pay issue, says minister
He also disagreed that RTÉ has been "punished" for transparency.
"Three years ago the Government didn't punish them, the Government stood by them to make sure it was able to fulfil its obligations and duties as laid down in statute, I don't think that was anything other than supportive of the independence of RTÉ," said Mr O'Donovan.
He said he is "satisfied" after hearing the chronology that RTÉ did not hide the latest controversy from him and provided information "as soon as was feasible".
Asked about Mr Bakhurst's potential pay rise, he said "that issue is under review with the Department of Public Expenditure at the moment and is not a matter for me".
However, he said he made a request at today's meeting that RTÉ publishes a top 100 list of salaries, including "cumulative" amounts for individuals rather than official salaries, saying this is something the broadcaster "should go away and consider".
Mr O Donovan said there will "obviously" need to be "subsequent meetings".
"There's not doubt about that", he said.
However, the minister added: "It's important to point out I don't want any one person scapegoated."
'Dogs in the wild' knew Derek Mooney was presenter, says Taoiseach
RTÉ management need to sort out the disparity around how some staff in the organisation are treated compared to others, the Taoiseach was warned, as he called for greater transparency.
Micheál Martin told the Dáil that the "dogs in the wild" knew that Mr Mooney was a presenter and "not a producer" and he hinted that there may be others classified in this way.
"I don't believe the current management is laissez-faire. I do think they want to get to grips with this, that's my assessment," he said.
The Sinn Féin leader accused RTÉ's "top brass" of keeping Mr Mooney's salary a secret even though the dogs in the street knew that Mr Mooney was a presenter.
The Irish public bailed out RTÉ to the tune of €725 million but there is little evidence of the change that people expected, Mary Lou McDonald said.
She said that top management still "play fast and loose, not reporting accurately the salaries of the high flyers".
The Government has let bad behaviour and a culture of entitlement to continue, she told the Dáil.
All this was happening while many people are struggling to get by, Ms McDonald said.
"There is no bailout for them, no help from government, but RTÉ top management is handed three quarters of a billion in public money and continues to take the taxpayers for fools," she said.
The Taoiseach said that the Oireachtas has to decide if it wants to have public service broadcasting or not.
He said it would be a political choice to abandon public service broadcasting but he does not agree with that.
