RTÉ chair Terence O'Rourke has said it is "possible" Derek Mooney could have appeared on the broadcaster’s top 10 highest earners list in previous years after his earnings were retrospectively added to the 2024 rankings.
Speaking to Prime Time presenter Fran McNulty, Mr O’Rourke said the issue only came to light in recent weeks during a review of presenter classifications prompted by an Expert Advisory Committee report into RTÉ’s culture and governance.
Mr Mooney, who had not appeared on RTÉ’s annual top 10 presenters list since 2014, was today added to a revised 2024 list with reported earnings of €197,151 after RTÉ said it reconsidered how staff with dual presenter-producer roles should be classified.
Asked whether Mr Mooney may also have qualified for earlier top 10 lists had he been classified differently, Mr O’Rourke said: "It’s possible, yes."
However, Mr O’Rourke said RTÉ would not revisit previous top 10 presenter lists, describing them as "judgements made at the time".
Mr Mooney had been internally classified as a producer from 2020 onwards despite continuing to present programmes on RTÉ radio and television.
Asked who decided Mr Mooney should be classified as a producer rather than a presenter, Mr O’Rourke said the decision had been made by "management at the time".
Mr O’Rourke said the broadcaster had strengthened its review process following recommendations from the Expert Advisory Committee, which criticised weaknesses in RTÉ’s governance and transparency structures.
The RTÉ chair also said he would have preferred the issue "not to have happened" but said RTÉ was attempting to improve transparency and "restore trust".
"There's lots of issues in RTÉ all across the place. Every week I'm reading about different stories, and we try our best to get the right answer. We got the right answer this year, and I'm happy with that," Mr O’Rourke said.
RTÉ published the revised figures ahead of the release of its 2025 annual report later this year.
Mr O’Rourke said the decision to issue the revised figures was taken after the RTÉ board approved the disclosures at a meeting on Thursday afternoon.
Director General Kevin Bakhurst told staff the move was part of RTÉ’s "commitment to increased transparency".
In a statement, RTÉ said it had reconsidered what constitutes a presenter for the purposes of compiling the top 10 highest earners list and had decided to include staff with dual producer-presenter roles.
Separately, Mr O’Rourke was also questioned about payments made to former presenters Claire Byrne and Ray D’Arcy after they had stopped presenting programmes for RTÉ.
Figures published by the broadcaster showed €47,000 was paid to Claire Byrne’s company, Derrough Media Ltd, after she ceased providing services on 31 October 2025.
A further €50,000 was paid to Ray D’Arcy’s company, WhatNext Productions Ltd, after he finished on 9 October 2025.
Asked why RTÉ continued to pay both presenters after they had left air, Mr O’Rourke said the broadcaster was honouring contractual obligations.
"Their contract said that they were contracted to present until the end of the year," he said.
"If we had ceased to pay them, I think we would have had some interesting solicitor’s letters."
When challenged that RTÉ had effectively paid the two presenters almost €100,000 "to do nothing for a couple of months", Mr O’Rourke rejected that characterisation, saying both remained available to the broadcaster while under contract.
Mr O’Rourke said RTÉ had made "lots of corporate governance changes" following the publication of the Expert Advisory Committee report and insisted the organisation was attempting to improve transparency by revisiting how the top 10 presenter list was compiled.
"My job is to make sure, as best we can, we look in every nook and cranny," he said. "What we did today is part of that, getting it right when we see things that need to be put right."
