RTE Salaries

Benedict

The percentage cut is almost irrelevant. If someone charges 10k for fixing a plug, it doesn't become good value if he drops his price by 90%.

I gather that Joe D only works 40 weeks in a year. This means that after the "cuts" are applied, he earns 7.5k for each of those weeks. In other words, 1k per hour. As a tax-payer, I don't want to pay him 1k per hour while I see mobility allowances being removed from disabled citizens in order to save money. Or when the sick are struggling to cope with being left on hospital trolleys for days through lack of resources.

Ireland simply cannot afford to allow RTE to play Santa Claus with our taxes.

PRAF

The irony that is Joe Duffy never ceases to amaze me. Here you have a guy who was at one point earning about €400k per year, paid for in large part by Joe Taxpayer, just to listen to people on the radio giving out about various things such as high taxes, unfair charges, cuts in services, etc.

On a separate point, I wonder does the headline salary figures include the other work that these "stars" do such as appearing as guests on the late late? I'd hazard a guess that the likes of Joe, Miriam, etc all earn plenty more money from other rte side projects, guest appearances on other rte shows, etc. It probably goes down as miscellaneous expenditure on the rte books.

NIMAN

And even worse, most of these folks are not paid directly liek me and you, but instead RTE pay a production company that they have set up, and that production company pays them.

So not only are they earning scandalous wages for what they do, but they are trying their best to minimise their tax liability.

Benedict

Joe, I gather, works 40 weeks in the year. That means every week he works, he goes home on the Friday afternoon with 7.5K in his wallet.

Of your money and mine?

While the government is cutting mobility allowances to the disabled?

The argument is that if we don't give him this sort of money, he'll take his talent elsewhere. BBC maybe? Australia? USA?

Hey folks, this is Joe Duffy?

LoveCoke

Benedict wrote: »

Joe, I gather, works 40 weeks in the year. That means every week he works, he goes home on the Friday afternoon with 7.5K in his wallet.

Of your money and mine?

While the government is cutting mobility allowances to the disabled?

The argument is that if we don't give him this sort of money, he'll take his talent elsewhere. BBC maybe? Australia? USA?

Hey folks, this is Joe Duffy?

what talent he would be laughed out of any real radio station. He can hardly talk

Benedict

Oh well! The RTE authorities have made a decision now to sign a contract for another period. I doubt if there's a single tax payer in the country that isn't furious that we have to pay someone 7.5k for answering a phone on air for 6 or 7 hours - but we have to suck it up and shut up. It used to be closer to 10k for the same job so at least we're not paying as much as we used to pay.

So happy days Joe - invest our money wisely. And don't spend it all in the one shop.

Cerco

Benedict wrote: »

Oh well! The RTE authorities have made a decision now to sign a contract for another period. I doubt if there's a single tax payer in the country that isn't furious that we have to pay someone 7.5k for answering a phone on air for 6 or 7 hours - but we have to suck it up and shut up. It used to be closer to 10k for the same job so at least we're not paying as much as we used to pay.

So happy days Joe - invest our money wisely. And don't spend it all in the one shop.

And Minister Rabbitte is "happy with that" while people are crucified with new taxes. No wonder Labour got a drubbing.
I think the Government is afraid to tackle high salaries in RTE because of the risk of bad publicity. Instead they welcome the reductions but say nothing about the ongoing vulgar payments. The rabbit is a doe.

homerjay2005

hmmm wrote: »

RTE spent hundreds of millions last year. I think this focus on top presenter salaries is a convenient distraction from what looks like massive over-spending in general, probably at all levels.

this is really really though. while of course they are well over paid, the real issue is not their saleries, its where the rest of the money is going.

id love to see what % goes on salaries and what goes on other costs, is this available anywhere?

woodoo

Benedict wrote: »

So happy days Joe - invest our money wisely. And don't spend it all in the one shop.

I read somewhere that Pat claims he can't afford to retire. I can only assume he didn't spend his money wisely and made some bad investments.

Benedict

I just do not know how the government have the brass neck to cut mobility allowances to disabled citizens and then allow 7.5 thousand Euro of public money to be shelled out each week for forty weeks a year for a job that involves spending less than eight hours a week answering the phone on air.

This sort of lunacy is an insult to the ordinary people of Ireland who, at the end of the day, have to pay for such extravagance and squandering in a time of cutbacks and general hardship.

It is a national disgrace.

washman3

Cerco wrote: »

And Minister Rabbitte is "happy with that" while people are crucified with new taxes. No wonder Labour got a drubbing.
I think the Government is afraid to tackle high salaries in RTE because of the risk of bad publicity. Instead they welcome the reductions but say nothing about the ongoing vulgar payments. The rabbit is a doe.

The Government simply has no appetite to tackle this national disgrace mainly because it would firstly mean that their own pay and pensions would come under serious scrutiny.
Well we know now that at least 15,000 people in Meath East are happy with little cosy set-ups like this. Thats the combined amount that voted for the 2 parties that promise to maintain the status quo, ie, protect the elite.

Benedict

I suppose one shouldn't blame the presenters. At least one was on 3k per hour and is still on 2k per hour after the cuts. Poor old Joe is down the food chain a bit so he has to be content with not much over a grand an hour.

Staggering money! I think it was Mr Gilmore who described it as "extraordinary".

But who is offering this money on our behalf? Are they mad? When someone says "I'll not accept a penny less", why doesn't someone say "fine, okay, try the BBC or Canada, we'll train up a few people here who'll do it for half". What sort of "negotiators" do we have "working" on behalf of the unfortunate tax payer?

But how do our Gardai feel? Or our overworked nurses who must slave for weeks and weeks to earn what someone in RTE (which is in serious debt by the way) can earn in one hour for sitting in a studio yammering into a mike?

It's the unfairness that gets to people!

Trhiggy83

Fairplay to Tubs for keepin a straight face every friday night... has the neck then to get a second job in the UK. How can he be in touch with the Irish Public on that wage... I dont begrudge the man a penny but RTE have a lot to answer for giving out salaries like that.

Benedict

If the Minister for Health were to walk up to a nurse on 500 a week and say "Here, I'm increasing your wages to 5k per week" what would she do? Say no?

Presenters can't be blamed for accepting obscene amounts if they're offered.

But the person offering it should reflect on the fact that it's not his/her money. It's public money and usually earned hard and there's a serious responsibility on the person with the cheque book to act sensibly.

When the Deputy Prime Minister of this country describes salaries even after the cuts as "extraordinary", it doesn't sound like the cheque book has been used with care.

When a person working in hours less than one day per week for about 40 weeks per year is awarded more pay than Barak Obama - how responsible is that?

Tossing hundreds of thousands around like confetti might make someone very popular in the RTE canteen - but how many SNA's could have kept their jobs if the money had been channeled into schools? How many Garda cars could it have bought? How many additional nurses could it have employed in our hospitals.

When public money is squandered, there are winners - but there are losers too.

armchair fusilier

Benedict wrote: »

If the Minister for Health were to walk up to a nurse on 500 a week and say "Here, I'm increasing your wages to 5k per week" what would she do? Say no?

Presenters can't be blamed for accepting obscene amounts if they're offered.

You have a point, but the presenters were not passive observers in the whole process. They hired agents to ensure that they got as much as they could possibly get. The blame does, however, lays chiefly with RTE for giving in to those agents demands.

Benedict

On Clairy Byrne's programme today, a media expert said on air that the danger of the presenters migrating to another station if they weren't given huge salaries was rubbish. She said that even the BBC could not afford to match - let alone exceed - the salaries currently paid to these people.

And on Radio Newstalk, they would be offered a fraction of the current salaries.

And on the matter of an "agent" negotiating on their behalf? And that's why they got such daft salaries? Was the agent holding a sub-machine gun?

A low paid worker works about 120 hours for less than Joe gets in just one!

Even a well paid worker will have to work a full week for what Joe gets in one hour or what Marian gets in half an hour.

If that's not creaming it, I don't know what is!

armchair fusilier

Benedict wrote: »

And on the matter of an "agent" negotiating on their behalf? And that's why they got such daft salaries? Was the agent holding a sub-machine gun?

No and I never said they were. I'm just saying that the presenters very pro-active in getting those huge salaries, of course, RTE could of said no. Pay Kenny, Joe Duffy and Marian Finucane are all on record saying that deserved every penny they got. They had a real sense of entitlement.

Benedict

I suppose when they are asked do they deserve the money they get, they can't very well say "no"! But I'm sure deep down, how can Joe Duffy possibly believe that his salary should be higher than that of the President of the USA? And deep down, how could Marian honestly believe that her Sat & Sun lunchtime stint for how many weeks per year? (Forty?) is worth such a colossal amount of cash while the country is suffering the most awful financial crisis.

But nobody blames the presenters. If RTE offers them huge money, of course they'll take it. Who wouldn't? Few would blame Joe for taking what he can get. He is doing a job which requires very little skill and he has, presumably, already become a millionaire from doing it (unless he is feeding 100 Euro notes to the ducks in Stephen's Green every day). But why are the RTE authorities so soft? Why are they so easily bullied into kow-towing to these people's demands for vast salaries which even our Prime Minister described as "extraordinary"?

The cheque book should be taken from whoever has it and given to someone who is tough.

Irish Steve

Cerco wrote: »

I would not agree that PK is world class. He obviously has a very effective research team to brief him well. He is poor when challenging politicians and likes the sound of his own voice. The greatest irritant is when he raises questions with panelists and then goes on to answer them himself.
Marian is ok but like all others way, way, way overpaid. As for Joe Duffy's moan show well I will comment.

Going to disagree with you completely re PK, yes he has a team working with him, but he knows his information very well, and has done more than just skim through the information the team give him. Had the pleasure to sit and chat for a few minutes after a recent visit to RTE, and was well impressed with both his knowledge of the information, and his overall way of working.

You need to see him in action to fully understand that, what we see on the screen is only a fractional part of what's really going on, and the work that's being done, especially when there are things like video tape being shown, or during advert breaks.

RTE are fortunate to have an anchor presenter of his quality, if I had to choose between PK and another Kenny to represent Ireland abroad, I know where my vote would be going.

Gloomtastic!

homerjay2005 wrote: »

this is really really though. while of course they are well over paid, the real issue is not their saleries, its where the rest of the money is going.

id love to see what % goes on salaries and what goes on other costs, is this available anywhere?

In a recent issue of The Phoenix, they mentioned that 80% of the licence fee goes on salaries.......

Norwesterner

It's not just RTE.
The Chief of Staff of the Irish Defence Forces earns more than his counterpart in the U.S Army.
The whole system needs to be fixed radically or our grandchildren will be left holding the tab.
Massive cuts are needed across the board.

Cerco

Irish Steve wrote: »

Going to disagree with you completely re PK, yes he has a team working with him, but he knows his information very well, and has done more than just skim through the information the team give him. Had the pleasure to sit and chat for a few minutes after a recent visit to RTE, and was well impressed with both his knowledge of the information, and his overall way of working.

You need to see him in action to fully understand that, what we see on the screen is only a fractional part of what's really going on, and the work that's being done, especially when there are things like video tape being shown, or during advert breaks.

RTE are fortunate to have an anchor presenter of his quality, if I had to choose between PK and another Kenny to represent Ireland abroad, I know where my vote would be going.

Did you happen to see the recent Prime Time interview he conducted with Roisin Shortall and the rep from the drinks industry? an absolutely dreadful performance. He asks questions and then constantly interrupts with nonsense arguments.
The fractional oart that us shown is all that matters imho.
I would say he is good but definitely noy great.

Tim Robbins

srsly78 wrote: »

Well in theory if they do a good job there will be lots of viewers. Lots of viewers = lots of ad revenue. Therefore they should be worth it.

However in reality noone watches RTE so I have no idea.

If they are so good at business why are we subsidising them over 100 million ever year then?

Come on ffs...

Tim Robbins

Norwesterner wrote: »

It's not just RTE.
The Chief of Staff of the Irish Defence Forces earns more than his counterpart in the U.S Army.
The whole system needs to be fixed radically or our grandchildren will be left holding the tab.
Massive cuts are needed across the board.

Absolutely mental. DO you have a reference for that?

Norwesterner

Tim Robbins wrote: »

Absolutely mental. DO you have a reference for that?

Not sure how recent this is, but here it states he earns 175,294 euros p.a.
Which is more than a Taioseach.
http://www.finance.gov.ie/documents/publications/other/AppendixHigherrep.pdf
Converted to dollars thats $224,757 p.a.

The U.S Chiefs of Staff earn....
http://www.careerbliss.com/us-army/salaries/chief-of-staff/

Le_Dieux

Cerco wrote: »

Did you happen to see the recent Prime Time interview he conducted with Roisin Shortall and the rep from the drinks industry? an absolutely dreadful performance. He asks questions and then constantly interrupts with nonsense arguments.
The fractional oart that us shown is all that matters imho.
I would say he is good but definitely noy great.

That seems to be a pre-requisite to being an RTE presenter. Listen to Mary Wilson the next chance You can - she rewrote the art of interruption, and does it so much, I find it completely offputting. Just waiting for the day some interviewee slams the phone down on Her, or tells Her to f**k off.

Benedict

As with most things, in the end, it comes down to the fact that people hate unfairness. People will put up with almost anything if the same rule applies to others in the community. Talk to a Londoner who has lived through the Blitz and he'll tell you of the sense of community spirit they had because they were all in the same boat. They were all suffering together.

What infuriates people is they see some sectors singled out for special treatment - and the special people are enriched at the expense of those who are suffering because the money is public money.

What we're looking at here is a classic case of unfairness. The parent whose child has had their SNA removed to save a few hundred a week is watching while the same public purse is used to pay another person a four figure sum PER HOUR to chat on the phone on air.

A school principal spoke on RTE yesterday and confirmed that one young teacher had been paid less than 1k last month due to cutbacks in teaching hours available. How does that young teacher feel when he sees how the same public purse is used in RTE?

It is so unfair and people are furious.

And can you blame them?

Tim Robbins

Benedict wrote: »

As with most things, in the end, it comes down to the fact that people hate unfairness. People will put up with almost anything if the same rule applies to others in the community. Talk to a Londoner who has lived through the Blitz and he'll tell you of the sense of community spirit they had because they were all in the same boat. They were all suffering together.

What infuriates people is they see some sectors singled out for special treatment - and the special people are enriched at the expense of those who are suffering because the money is public money.

What we're looking at here is a classic case of unfairness. The parent whose child has had their SNA removed to save a few hundred a week is watching while the same public purse is used to pay another person a four figure sum PER HOUR to chat on the phone on air.

A school principal spoke on RTE yesterday and confirmed that one young teacher had been paid less than 1k last month due to cutbacks in teaching hours available. How does that young teacher feel when he sees how the same public purse is used in RTE?

It is so unfair and people are furious.

And can you blame them?

Marx split people into managers and workers. Now the split is elite public sector and everyone else.

We are work are balls off and they take our money thru taxes get paid more and work less.

Icepick

Top RTE salaries are bit of a red herring. Looking at the total bill, it's clear that RTE must be overpaying almost everyone and everything.

Le_Dieux

Icepick wrote: »

Top RTE salaries are bit of a red herring. Looking at the total bill, it's clear that RTE must be overpaying almost everyone and everything.

Agreed, and added to the above, surely overstaffed too.! Looking back at the recent pope election ( or whatever it's calledf ), I recall at least three presenters in Rome for the event...3??? Surely one would have been enough?