RTÉ has confirmed that Derek Mooney’s pay was incorrectly listed in public records and its updated details have seen the presenter listed among the broadcaster’s top 10 earners for 2024.
RTÉ said it had decided to revise its top 10 highest-earning presenters for 2024 to include Derek Mooney after it “reconsidered what constitutes a presenter”.
Publishing its results for 2025, RTÉ said that, in line with the Government’s expert advisory committee’s recommendations, it made the decision “to consider all personnel holding dual roles” for inclusion in the top 10 presenters list.
RTÉ said Mooney had previously been designated as a producer and not as a presenter over a period from 2020 to 2024.
The change in how the presenter was characterised meant Mooney appeared eighth on the 2024 list with a salary of €197,151.
And in the 2025 list, he moved up one place to seventh with a salary of just over €202,000.
The last time Mooney appeared in the top 10 list of earners was in 2014 when he finished in 10th position on a salary of €168,871.
He did not appear on the list in 2015 or subsequent years as according to RTÉ he would not have earned enough for inclusion between 2015 and 2019.
Top of the list for 2025 was Claire Byrne – who left RTÉ last year – on €280,000, followed by Patrick Kielty who earned €266,323 with Miriam O’Callaghan finishing last year as the third-highest earner on €244,797.
RTÉ also disclosed in the statement on its top earners that Claire Byrne’s company Derrough Media Limited and Ray D’Arcy’s company Whatnext Productions Limited continued to be paid until the end of last year, even though they stopped providing services to the national broadcaster in October 2025.
D’Arcy’s company was paid €50,000 and Byrne’s company €47,000 from the time they left the broadcaster until the end of the year. These figures are included in the overall pay figures listed for 2025.
D’Arcy and Byrne ceased broadcasting on RTÉ on October 9th and October 31st respectively. Byrne left to join rival broadcaster Newstalk, while D’Arcy has since launched a podcast.
The two broadcasters held contracts with RTÉ through their companies covering the whole of 2025.
The chairman of the national broadcaster’s board, Terence O’Rourke, said the board “supports the ongoing commitment by RTÉ to transparency as evidenced in today’s announcement”.
The decision by RTÉ to revise the public record to reflect the earnings of Mooney in 2024 will inevitably draw comparisons with the scandal that engulfed the station in 2023 when it emerged it had paid the then Late Late Show presenter Ryan Tubridy €345,000 more than it had publicly stated over a six-year period.
That scandal led to multiple resignations, Oireachtas hearings and a collapse in public confidence. While the latest payment issue appears to be less complex, it is still likely to be embarrassing for the broadcaster.