Top RTE broadcaster Pat Kenny has described the salaries of the station's broadcast stars as "trivial" compared to those paid to footballers.
In an interview with this newspaper, Mr Kenny, who returns to host The Frontline later this month, said that he and his fellow stars were victims of a continuing double standard in the debate over the level of their salaries, which are paid out of licence-fee money.
Kenny, who was paid €950,956 in 2008 and €630,000 last year, rejects the notion that his and other stars' salaries were a result of Celtic Tiger excess.
"Well, I always smile to myself about the salaries issue. Back in the Eighties, Gaybo was earning in real terms more than everyone is earning in RTE now. So the idea that these are on Celtic Tiger rates of pay is not really true."
He said that RTE had to "incentivise" its stars.
"I often wonder why there isn't the same fuss over the salaries paid to footballers like John O'Shea, earning more in three weeks than Marian Finucane earns in a year.
"There is a double standard there. These people put themselves on the line, they entertain the nation week in, week out, and yet they are paid a trivial amount compared to footballers."
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