RTÉ spends €360k on TV and radio guest fees in a year
paid out more than €360,000 in fees to guests and contributors for its top TV and radio shows over the past 12 months.
More than a third of the cash was spent on
Patrick Kielty's
Late Late Show
where €128,500 was paid for appearances on the Friday night TV programme.
RTÉ said that money was shared between 100 different guests across 30 episodes, with an average payment of nearly €1,300.
However, they said in some cases, a single fee covered bands or musical acts, so some of the individual payments were for multiple people.
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A spokeswoman for the broadcaster said the guest fees were a 'necessary and industry standard part of production'.
Their next highest bill was for Today with
Claire Byrne
where guest costs came to more than €68,000 between July 2024 and June 2025.
RTÉ said that covered appearances by 1,270 different contributors with the average payment working out at just €54.
There were guest bills of €48,500 for the
Brendan O'Connor
Show with 642 guests paid about €75 each for taking part.
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RTÉ's Liveline listenership dipped by 8,000 before Joe Duffy departed
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Morning Ireland ran up €39,000 in costs with an average payment of about €63 for 624 people who contributed to the show.
The lowest per-guest fees were on RTÉ Drivetime where about €28,500 was paid to 638 guests, equivalent to roughly €45 per person.
The broadcaster's second highest bill for guest fees was for Today with Claire Byrne. Photograph: Conor McCabe
The average payment for an appearance on Sunday with
Miriam
was €147; overall costs were €5,868 for 40 contributors.
Other guest bills included €21,500 for the
Ray D'Arcy
Show, €12,277 for Prime Time, and €5,554 for the Six One News.
There were also small costs of €952 for the Nine O'Clock News and €3,077 for current affairs show Upfront, which was cancelled earlier this summer.
RTÉ said they could not provide details of costs for the
Tommy Tiernan
Show as it was made by an independent production company.
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The show mustn't go on for RTÉ underperformers, say RTÉ news staff
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They said fees were paid to guests and contributors, including local and international journalists, artists, and musicians for the time they gave up taking part in a show. However, people promoting films, albums, programmes, or books were not usually paid nor were political representatives who appeared on TV or radio.
A spokeswoman for RTÉ added: 'Contributor fees are a necessary and industry standard part of production to add strength and depth to a wide variety of programmes and content from expert opinion, to on the ground reporting from war zones and musical contributors for entertainment programmes.
'RTÉ seeks a variety of contributors from a diversity of backgrounds and pays them accordingly for their expertise and time which enhance our offering to the audience.'
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