RTE comments on transparency ‘falling on deaf ears’, D’Arcy says

Anything RTE says about transparency “falls on deaf ears” if it does not highlight the pay of its director general, former presenter Ray D’Arcy has said.

On Thursday, RTE published presenter pay figures for 2025 which revealed it continued to pay D’Arcy after he left the organisation in October 2025.

On his podcast Ray D’Arcy Daily, the presenter said RTE director general Kevin Bakhurst had done a “good enough job” discussing the matter on Morning Ireland.

However, he said he was “scratching this itch” and added: “It’s Kevin Backhurst, right?

“RTE says he’s on a salary of 250,000 – that’s his basic salary.

“But on top of that – and this isn’t a thing that’s trotted out in newspaper articles that often – he has a car allowance, I don’t know if he used that, that’s for 25,000 and he has a pension contribution worth 62,500.

D’Arcy said he believed Mr Bakhurst was “very capable” the “type of man” who should be running RTE, and “probably worth” 337,500 euro.

However, he added: “Just say it as it is – because anything you say without being transparent and clear about your own salary just falls on deaf ears.”

Mr Bakhurst has previously said no one at RTE should earn more than he does.

Referencing this position, D’Arcy also referenced speculation that Patrick Kielty – who has finished a contract to present the Late Late Show – is waiting for Mr Bakhurst to receive a salary boost from the Government before negotiating his next term as host.

RTE said it had no comment to make on the matter.