Pat Kenny was by far RTÉ's highest-paid presenter in 2004, with earnings of €899,000 - almost twice the amount earned by his nearest rival, Gerry Ryan.
New top 10 earnings figures for 2004 released by RTÉ yesterday also reveal that Kenny, who renegotiated his contract in 2004, saw his income during that year increase by over €260,000.
His company, Pat Kenny Media Services Ltd, was paid a total of almost €1.1 million during 2004, when payments made during that year for work carried out previously are included.
The top five earners at RTÉ remain the same as in 2003. Second-placed Gerry Ryan earned a total of €487,492 through "contractor" payments to Balcom Management Ltd, up some €25,000 on the previous year.
Third-placed Marian Finucane earned €439,265, over €78,000 more than in 2003. This money was paid to her through Montrose Services Ltd, on a contractor basis.
Newcomer to the list, Ryan Tubridy, who has replaced Finucane on the weekday morning slot at RTÉ radio and who saw his market share increase in the most recent listenership figures, was paid €216,150 through Trocity Productions Ltd, placing him sixth on the list.
Others such as Joe Duffy and Prime Time presenter Miriam O'Callaghan, also registered significant increases in pay during 2004. But household names such as Charlie Bird, Vincent Browne and Brian Farrell, who featured on the 2003 list, do not feature in the 2004 top 10.
The figures for the top 10 highest-paid on-air presenters at RTÉ show that the national broadcaster paid out a total of almost €3.3 million in 2004 to these individuals.
Tubridy replaces veteran broadcaster Farrell at sixth on the list, while Seán O'Rourke, RTÉ Radio 1's News at One anchor and presenter of The Week in Politics on RTÉ 1 television, appears in ninth place with earnings of €177,463. He replaces Charlie Bird.
With earnings of €168,322, sports commentator George Hamilton, replaces Browne at 10th place on the list.
The other presenters who feature are:
Joe Duffy, the fourth-highest-paid presenter, who earned €279,149 through Claddaghgreen Ltd, up some €50,000 on 2003;
In fifth place,Miriam O'Callaghan received €251,251, some €74,000 more than in 2003;
Derek Mooney, who it was recently announced will host a new afternoon show on RTÉ Radio 1, earned €189,906, up €23,000 on the year before. This means he remains the station's seventh-highest earner.
John Kelly, whose late-night Mystery Train radio show is to be cancelled, earned €188,630 in 2004, maintaining him at eighth place and representing an increase of over €37,000 on his earnings in 2003.
Mooney and O'Rourke are the only two direct employees of RTÉ to appear in the top 10, with the remainder being paid on a "contractor" basis.
RTÉ spokeswoman Bride Rosney yesterday defended the amounts paid to presenters such as Kenny and Ryan, which she said represented "the market rate". Kenny's earnings reflected his dual role as a radio and television broadcaster.
"In the past year, 55 per cent of our funds have come from commercial sources, and 45 per cent from our licence fee," she said. "Those who appear on the list are also heavily weighted towards radio, which is very much a personality-led medium."
Under a new accounting system employed by RTÉ for the first time this year, it also emerges that Kenny was the highest earner at the station in 2003, despite previous figures which suggested that Ryan earned more than his rival.
The new accounting system, which is widely seen as more accurate, calculates actual earnings during the year in question irrespective of when they were paid. The previous method of calculation related to total "cash" payments, regardless of when the money was earned.
Since many of RTÉ highest- paid stars are not employees of the national broadcaster, the old system meant work from previous years for which RTÉ had not been invoiced was often included in the figures for a particular year.
For example, using the new system, Kenny is calculated to have earned €635,916 in 2003, compared to just €344,099 under the old "cash" system. Similarly, if his earnings of €899,000 this year were calculated under the old accounting system, he would have earned some €1.1 million when previous work is included.