Speaking on Drivetime earlier this evening Mr Bakhurst said he was taken aback that the former host of The Ray D’Arcy Show on Radio One had “no inkling” about changes afoot.
He also spoke on a number of historical payments and the ownership of an expensive painting hanging at RTÉ’s Montrose campus.
Mr Bakhurst said D’Arcy “did a fantastic job with RTÉ for a number of years but the decision to cut the show was based on numbers and significant audience research”.
He insisted D’Arcy’s departure was ‘handled fairly’ even though the presenter had said he was ‘hugely disappointed’ with the process.
“I feel sorry personally for Ray. I think Patricia Monahan, head of audios, explained as much as she can about that. I think it’s always difficult when you make changes and individuals are involved.
“In my view, and yes, I was involved with Patricia in this, I feel it was handled fairly.”
He added: “He actually had plenty of warning that there could be changes in coming along for a couple of years. So I was quite surprised when he said he had no inkling about it.
“But, you know, I understand it’s hard when it happens to anyone, particularly if you’re in the public eye.
Asked if he had spoken to D’Arcy since his departure, Bakhurst said, “No.”
Ray D’Arcy left the broadcaster. Photo: Brian McEvoy
Meanwhile it emerged an art gallery is claiming ownership of a Gerard Dillon painting valued at €60,000 which is hanging on the wall at RTÉ.
However RTÉ remains unsure of who actually owns the painting ‘Kitchen interior with seated woman’ or how exactly it came to be in its possession, likely several decades ago.
Mr Bakhurst said: “We believe that it may well have been lent to us by an art gallery about 40 or 50 years ago.
“We’re trying to find the paperwork. The art gallery has been in contact, saying they believe it was lent to us but they also don’t have paperwork to show that.
“We need to try and bottom that, and if it is, we’ll give it back to them.”
It comes amid a number of issues identified in a report on financial issues of the past at the national broadcaster.
The report was compiled by the chief financial officer of RTÉ, Mari Hurley, who took over the role last year following a period in which the organisation was engulfed in controversy.
RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst. Photo: PA
A number of unorthodox payments involving sums of up to €30,000 identified at RTÉ
The report details eight irregular payments – ranging between €10,000 and €30,000 mainly related to pensions.
In one case, top-up pension payments were made to a family member of a former senior executive.
Mr Bakhurst told staff earlier this week that the payments in question were “years or decades old” and were “historically recorded on RTÉ’s balance sheets”.
“Four of the eight payments referred to were agreed decades ago and one of these relates to agreed payments to the widow of a former director general of RTÉ following his death.”
The report has been submitted to the Minister for Media, Culture the Arts and Gaeltacht, Patrick O’Donovan.
Speaking on the Six One news Mr O’Donovan said he wants to hear more from RTÉ about a series of pension payments.
Mr O’Donovan also said a €475,000 severance payment struck him as “very high”.
These matters are set to be raised a scheduled meeting with the Chairman of the RTÉ Board on November 6.
RTÉ has also published its annual report, including the salaries of its top earners.
It detailed how the severance payment with a total cost of €475,000 including a contribution to legal fees was agreed with a former member of the executive board.
Mr Bakhurst said he “did not like” paying this amount but it was agreed at the Workplace Relations Commission.
“We went through this couple of years ago in terms of executive leaving here, and this has become quite historical by now,” he told Drivetime.
“I mean, this was a an individual that went through the WRC, there was an agreement reached at the WRC, the amount includes legal costs as well.
“It’s a lot of money, and we didn’t like paying that.
“I explained it at the time, but I also explained that I needed new leadership for this organisation, and some people, there were a number of people who left, and we needed to bring new leadership.”
Asked if there would be severance packages like this again, he said: “I hope not.”
Speaking about salaries, he told Drivetime: “What I said was no one at RTÉ will earn more than the director general.
“One thing I can say is that by the January 1 next year, that will be the case.”
The highest paid presenters last year were Joe Duffy at €351,000 and Claire Byrne at €280,000. Duffy departed the broadcaster in June while Byrne will soon be leaving for Newstalk.
Other names in the top 10 highest paid presenters include Miriam O’Callaghan, Brendan O’Connor and D’Arcy, who left RTE earlier this month.