RTÉ 2FM star Doireann Garrihy bagged €20k to promote Cheltenham, the Dáil has heard.
Brand deals between RTÉ talent and other companies have been subject to intense scrutiny ever since the Ryan Tubridy payments scandal hit headlines last month.
While the deals are separate to RTÉ contracts, it’s understood they have to be approved by a line manager at the state broadcaster.
Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy has called for a register to be set up for contractors to declare all their earnings, following the lack of transparency by RTÉ.
She highlighted the large sum of money Doireann received for a partnership deal with Horse Racing Ireland as an example of the need for a register.
The politician told the Dáil: “Through a recent set of parliamentary questions I tabled about influencers, I discovered some people can earn quite a lot of additional money.”
“Doireann Garrrihy was paid €20,000 promoting a horse racing festival – actually Cheltenham – by the publicly funded Horse Racing Ireland incredibly promoting an event in a different jurisdiction.”
RT€ Secret Payments
RTÉ stars Doireann Garrihy and Eoin McGee were paid substantial public funds by State bodies,..@CathMurphyTD of the Social Democrats, claimed the RTÉ star Doireann Garrihy has been paid €20,000 by the publicly-funded Horse Racing Ireland to promote… pic.twitter.com/M2PpRG6tbp
— Mick Caul (@caulmick) July 4, 2023
It comes after RTÉ released an anonymised list of their top 100 earners, following the revelation that Ryan Tubridy’s earnings were publicly understated by €345,000 over the last six years.
According to the list, the top 100 earners are all paid more than €100,000.
The top earning list includes 84 staff members and 16 contractors. 59 of these hold management positions, 10 are members of the executive board, and 31 are presenters or not in management.
At the top of the earnings list are presenters, and the top three earners make €515,000, followed by €343,083 and €342,000.
RTÉ has not named the top 100, citing data protection concerns.
After Ryan Tubridy, the highest earning presenters are Joe Duffy, Claire Byrne, Ray D’Arcy and Miriam O’Callaghan.
Amid the scandal, Joe Duffy disclosed that his RTÉ pay of €351,000 is composed of €300k for radio, and €51k for TV projects.
