As we all know, concern with public pay levels and expenditure has become matters of grave concern amongst the Irish people these days, and rightly so, considering it is their money that is taken.
Recently, RTE have come under fire over the levels of salary paid to their top broadcasters. Unsurprisingly, the PR machine has swung into full effect. Paul Allen, writing in the Irish Independent argues that when it comes to Pat Kenny, Ryan Tubridy and their ilk, we get value for money. These megastars, Allen counters, are of such supreme quality that we must foist our money upon them, in the hope that they won’t take the ship to England as Terry Wogan and Eamonn Andrews did before them. And, in comments which must be viewed twice, to ensure they aren’t satirical, Noel Kelly, the so-called ‘superagent’ interceded on behalf of his clients, insisting “some of the talent can’t afford to pay their bills or bloody mortgages with what they earn… we have people struggling like everyone else, trying to get an interest-only mortgage and not being able to get one, having to sell their car. This idea of them living in this ivory tower on huge wages is simply not true.”
Perhaps it is a sign of a culture of entitlement, still hanging on by the skin of its teeth after the abrupt departure of the Celtic Tiger, refusing to break down and die. According to figures RTE have finally agreed to publish, Pat Kenny is paid in the region of €630,000, Ryan Tubridy earns €283,000, while Joe Duffy received a paltry €389,000 in 2009. To put these figures in context, Enda Kenny receives €200,000 for running the Irish country through the economic recession. His European counterparts, Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy, were paid €228,000 and €232,000, respectively, in 2009 and the leader of the free world, Barack Obama, received about €293,000 for his efforts.
It is a sign of madness when an ‘entertainer’ like Joe Duffy commands a far higher salary than some of the most powerful politicians in Europe and the world. Barack Obama balances the economic recession crippling his country with on-going large scale conflicts across the Middle East. Joe Duffy allows people to complain on live radio for several hours every afternoon. Ryan Tubridy has lost his charm and is completely out of his depth with his radio and television viewership taking a nosedive since he came onboard. Perhaps a move to the BBC would give his career a much need boost. And while Pat Kenny possesses skill in the current affairs arena, his remuneration is highly flawed regardless of whether he ‘works very hard’ or not.
They do a job and deserve to be paid for it. To a limited extent. The idea, however, that these stars on high wages are suffering as much as the next man is a joke, and one which will do more to tarnish their reputation amongst the people rather than rebuild it. The simple fact is, the Irish people are sick and tired of passing their hard earned money to those who do not deserve it. And, of these people, it would seem, RTE has more than their fair share.
