REVEALED: RTE reveals list of top ten highest paid presenters with top salary of €280K
Claire Byrne, Patrick Kielty and Ray D' Arcy are among the top highest paid presenters at RTE with their yearly salaries revealed
RTÉ has recently revealed a list of their top ten highest paid presenters with Claire Byrne ranking number one on the list.
Claire Byrne was the highest paid presenter in 2025 with a salary of €280,000.
Patrick Kielty is second on the list with €266,323, followed by Brendan O'Connor in fourth with €239,988.
Ray D'Arcy follows with €219,992 and then David McCullagh is places sixth at €206,393.
Derek Mooney, seventh on the list, was paid €202,264 and in eighth, Darragh Maloney at €197,840.
Lastly, it was revealed that George Lee is on a salary of €194,406, with Daithí Ó Sé finishing tenth with €192,809.
Claire Byrne and Ray D’Arcy both received payments from RTÉ after finishing their on-air roles as part of their contract with the broadcasting service.
In a statement published on Thursday May 14, RTÉ said: "RTÉ is today publishing the earnings of its top 10 highest paid presenters for 2025, ahead of the publication of RTÉ’s Annual Report 2025 later this year.
"In line with the implementation of the Government’s Expert Advisory Committee’s recommendations, RTÉ has reconsidered what constitutes a “presenter” for the purposes of compiling the Top Ten Table for 2025. RTÉ has made the decision to consider all personnel holding dual roles (such as producer-presenter, or editor–presenter etc) for inclusion in RTÉ's top 10 highest-earning presenters for 2025.
"RTÉ’s reconsideration has led to the inclusion of Derek Mooney in the list. He currently undertakes some presenting duties as part of his dual role as producer/presenter and, as such, is included in the Top Ten table.
"In this context, RTÉ is today also re-presenting the information published regarding the earnings of its top 10 highest-earning presenters for 2024, for comparison purposes with 2025. This revision allows RTÉ to provide a like-for-like comparison with last year’s publication".