Mr McCullagh will be making the move from anchoring the Six One News to the Today programme on RTÉ Radio 1 in November.
Claire Byrne will be leaving the mid-morning slot on Radio 1 to rejoin Newstalk, where she will be taking over from Pat Kenny, as moves to a new weekend slot on the commercial station.
Speaking to Oliver Callan on Radio 1, Mr McCullagh said he will earn a salary of €209,000 when he takes up the role on November 3.
“My salary will be €209,000 a year, plus pension will bring the total package to about €240,000, just under €240,000.”
He said there was no negotiation with RTÉ and that was the salary offered to him for the role.
“I’m very happy, yes, thank you very much. So, for the first time I presume I’ll be in the top 10, the list of top 10 [earners].”
Mr McCullagh confirmed that he has a three-year contract as the presenter of Today and “sure who knows, it might be renewed”.
Having spent some time at Electric Picnic, he said he had “a bit of a strange weekend” following the announcement of his new gig.
David McCullagh will begin hosting ‘Today’ on RTÉ Radio 1 from November. Photo: RTÉ
Claire Byrne leaves RTÉ, taking Pat Kenny’s Newstalk slot
“A lot of people were saying well done, congratulations, which is very nice. Another lady came up to me and told me she had her TV recorder set for our documentary on Wednesday so yeah, pretty positive.
“I was kind of surprised that people recognised me, for starters. Legacy media has an age profile, the audience has an age profile.”
The offer to take over from Ms Byrne was made to Mr McCullagh at the end of July and he said he accepted it on his way to the airport when he headed off on a holiday.
“It didn’t take much thinking to be honest,” he said of the offer.
“I had said I’d be interested, if there were opportunities I’d be interested in having a conversation.”
He said he did not want to leave the Six One, but Today is “probably one of the best gigs in Irish media, so when it was offered to me, it didn’t take long to make up my mind.
Asked if he had any worries over listeners following Ms Byrne over to Newstalk, he said “we’ll see what happens”.
“I’m absolutely aware of the fact that [it’s] big shoes to fill, and there’s a long tradition of really excellent presenters on that particular programme.
“Claire, Sean [O’Rourke], before him Pat obviously. I’m aware that it’s a big challenge, and that’s part of the attraction, but I’m also aware that the team is fabulous, and everybody I talked to over the last while since the news broke has said two things – one, you’ll really enjoy it and two, the team are fantastic.”
He and Claire Byrne exchanged texts on Friday, he said, and they plan on meeting for coffee “one of these days”.