RTÉ has confirmed it paid €8.5million to 67 employees who left last year under a voluntary exit programme.

It said this move, plus the elimination of 30 other jobs across the organisation, will save €8.4million every year.

The figures, which would see an average payout of just over €125,000 to each staff member, were contained in RTÉ’s annual report, which has been published following Cabinet approval.

The report also reveals that nine of the top ten earners in 2025 were members of the management team, with only one presenter on the list, Claire Byrne, who left in 2025.

The highest-paid was director general Kevin Bakhurst, who received total remuneration of €339,538, including a salary of €250,000, plus pension contributions and allowances.

Mr Bakhurst has made it a policy at the broadcaster that nobody will be paid a salary higher than his. Deputy director general Adrian Lynch followed with a total pay in 2025 of €293,627, followed by the director of operations, technology and transformation, Richard Waghorn, on €291,160, and the managing director of News and Current Affairs, Deirdre McCarthy, on €285,063.

Ms Byrne, who left to join Newstalk, and who was paid through her company Derrough Media Ltd, earned €280,000 in 2025 while she was with RTÉ.

The annual report says RTÉ recorded a surplus of €22.5million, an increase from the 2024 figure of €5.5million. That is despite a drop in TV licence sales, with 768,657 sold in 2025, down from 792,243 in 2024.

However, the drop of 3% was offset by a rise in income from the Department of Social Protection relating to ‘free TV licences’. This meant licence fee income rose by 5% from €174.3million to €183.5million, while extra Government funding declined €6.7million to €41.3million.

The 2025 report says total revenue increased by €3million to €383million over the year. Commercial income rose from €158.1million to €158.6million, with ad and sponsorship revenue accounting for 76% at €121.1million.

Overall operating costs declined from €13.7million in 2024 to €4.1million last year, in part due to not having the extra costs related to one-off events such as the Olympics and Euro 2024.

Mr Bakhurst said RTÉ has made good progress implementing its five-year strategy in year one, ‘rigorously managing finances’.

Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers said he welcomed the transparency provided in the latest report, particularly around salaries. ‘We need to see continued reforms, efficiencies and sustainability around the wider reorganisation of RTÉ, so it’s rightsized for the future,’ he said.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin referred to debates about RTÉ seeming to be ‘endless’. He said: ‘I think the wages should be reasonable, sustainable. I think talent needs to be, at all times, rewarded in terms of its contribution but the debates on RTÉ seem to be endless these days.’