Former RTÉ star Evanne Ní Chuilinn has told the Oireachtas that she had “asked repeatedly” to be paid as a presenter at RTÉ after presenting shows for over a decade before her departure in 2025.
Evanne Ní Chuilinn is pictured at the launch of the Get Ireland Active App at the Sport Ireland Campus in Dublin(Image: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile)
Former RTÉ star Evanne Ní Chuilinn has revealed that she was never paid as a presenter at the station, accusing RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst of presiding over a ‘two-tier’ pay system.
Appearing at the Oireachtas Media Committee, the former journalist who is now serving as Fine Gael senator, revealed that she had been “treated very poorly” by the national broadcaster’s head of sport and another senior figure during her time at the organisation.
RTÉ senior management were back before the committee yesterday to answer questions over the latest controversy at RTÉ, following revelations about payments to Derek Mooney.
It was revealed last week that the presenter had been classified as a producer and omitted from its published list of top ten highest-paid presenters between 2020 and 2023, despite him earning enough to feature each year.
His earnings were €195,079 in 2020, €187,854 in 2021, €188,885 in 2022 and €192,592 in 2023, placing him among RTÉ’s top earners.
However, Evanne hit out at the fact that despite presenting programmes at RTÉ for ten years, she never received a presenter contract, despite repeatedly requesting one.
“I presented for your organisation for more than 10 years. I worked there for 20 years. When I presented for 10 years, I asked repeatedly and I never got a presenter contract,” she explained.
“I was never paid or contracted as a presenter, and I should have been, because, as you say, presenters earn more than reporters,” she told the committee.
She also accused RTÉ of allowing flexibility in some cases while denying similar requests from other staff.
“You were able to reclassify Derek Mooney when it suited to keep him out of the top ten, but there are hundreds of people working in RTÉ who asked to be reclassified and were told that that wasn’t an option for them,” she said.
Evanne worked at RTÉ for 20 years before entering politics in 2024, claimed there were still staff presenting high-profile shows without formal presenter contracts.
She added that one presenter involved in World Cup coverage earned €70,000, while researchers had presented programmes such as the Today Show.
During the meeting, Mr Bakhurst explained that jobs are advertised as reporter or producer roles, and that presenting might be included in the job.
Those employees may then be eligible to get a presenter allowance on top of their salary and said there had always been a range of salaries depending on experience, audience connection and the value presenters brought to RTÉ.
However, Evanne argued that that while she had received allowances of up to €10,000 during her time at the station, they were taxed at 50% and did not count towards pension contributions.
“I feel like it’s you that’s getting away with a two-tier system, and that you’re not actually being punished for the transparency,” she told Mr Bakhurst.
She urged him to “do the right thing” for current staff by ensuring contracts and pay accurately reflected the work that presenters carried out.
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