Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The last question for Mr. Bakhurst is about the top earners and the traditional controversy around that. Mary Wilson interviewed an RTE board member a few years back in regard to the top earners. Given what we have been through in the recession and the difficulties meted out, most unfairly in some quarters, is it right that a presenter earning €300,000 to €500,000 a year interviews someone who has undergone a 5% reduction in a salary of €30,000 to €40,000? I am not ashamed that I was a strong critic of the reduction of €1 in the minimum wage by the last Administration. Some of the show presenters covering the reduction would earn more in one hour than the minimum wage could give in one year. Can I ask the witnesses to tell the committee what are the salaries of the top earners and their expenses? It grates with me that someone earning €300,000 to €500,000 per year would interview someone else during a recession about a reduction in their earnings which are a fraction of what the presenters earn. I know the argument is made that if RTE does not pay it then another media outlet might be open to taking them at similar prices but I do not accept that. I believe it is obscene in the extreme for anybody to earn that kind of money, not least because of the economic torture inflicted on many ordinary, hard-pressed households in recent years.