RTÉ top 10 earners revealed: Ray D’Arcy down nearly €150k as Claire Byrne the big winner

However, the number of fees paid to the well-known contractor has dropped from €495,00 down to €440,000 in 2021 and €446,250 in 2020.

Figures released today also show that ‘Liveline’ presenter Joe Duffy is now the second best-paid presenter at RTÉ after overtaking Ray D’Arcy in the ‘Top Ten’ league of earners.

Former Today FM presenter D’Arcy saw a reduction in his fees of nearly €150,000 over the years ending 2020 and 2021.

‘Liveline’ presenter Joe Duffy has moved one place up the list to claim the second position with earnings of €360,650 in 2020 and €351,000 in 2021. He was paid just over €392,000 in 2019 and was previously the third-best paid broadcaster.

Presenter Ray D’Arcy has dropped from number two to number three in the league of top earners for 2020. For the year ending 2021, he was in the fourth position on the list.

The fees paid to him dropped significantly from €450,000 in 2019 down to €305,000 for the years 2020 and 2021. He became the fourth-highest earner in 2021.

This drop may have been linked to him no longer fronting his weekend TV chat-show and may relate solely to his radio work with the broadcaster.

Radio 1 presenter Claire Byrne claimed the fourth spot in the list in 2020 with earnings of €282,917 but moved up to third place in 2020 with fees of €350,000.

Bucking the trend to reduce top presenters’ wages, this is up significantly from the €250,000 from the last year the fees were revealed, which covered 2019.

Her fees would have related to both her radio and her TV work fronting the popular ‘Claire Byrne Live’ Monday night show. Though Ms Byrne has since stepped away from the television show.

Figures released today also show that Miriam O’Callaghan also took a reduction in her pay. It dropped from €320,000 down to €263,500 for both 2020 and 2021. She stands at number five on the list, down from number six.

Radio star Brendan O’Connor saw a slight increase in his pay from the broadcaster for the relevant years. He went from €220,000 in 2019 up to just over €238,000 in 2020 and €254,000 in 2021, bringing him to number six on the list.

Bryan Dobson stands at number seven on the list, going up slightly from €209,000 to €217,000 in 2020 and down to €209,000 in 2021.

Mary Wilson and Darragh Maloney claim the eighth and ninth place respectively with earnings of €196,961 and €183,738 respectively.

RTÉ Director-General, Dee Forbes, said today's figures confirmed a total reduction in presenter fees of more than 15pc.

"Our presenters play an important role in RTÉ's provision of vital news, information and entertainment to audiences right across the country and enable us to generate commercial revenue which is essential to fund RTÉ's public services. We are aware that the fees of high-profile presenters attract considerable public interest. Over the past 15 years RTÉ has reduced these fees by c. 40pc. We continue to keep them under review,” she said.