RTÉ executives have undergone yet another grilling at the Oireachtas media committee – but what did we learn about the station’s most recent pay controversy and its inner workings?Derek Mooney’s classificationRTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst was at pains to avoid comparisons between the current controversy, which led to the broadcaster restating its top earner list to include its presenter Derek Mooney and the Ryan Tubridy scandal. He argued this was a categorisation issue, not one of secret payments, and that Mooney didn’t benefit at all from it. We did get an insight into how it came about, however, with Bakhurst and his deputy Adrian Lynch saying the decision was taken by the former chief financial officer and the director general, Dee Forbes, in 2020. They told the committee that in 2020, Mooney would have been going back into the list of top earners, but an instruction was given that “per DG (Director General)” – he should be counted as a producer. Bakhurst says he and his team took a different view, which led to last week’s restatement. Oliver Callan’s independent companyRyan Tubridy’s permanent replacement Oliver Callan is paid €150,000 per year by the broadcaster, but Fine Gael TD Micheál Carrigy asked about presenters who work with independent production companies separately from their direct work – with RTÉ offering up the example of Callan, whose company Catchy Title is paid separately for his Callan’s Kicks show. The committee heard Callan is not in the top 10 earners, but RTÉ conceded that if the other fee was included, he would be. RTÉ pointed out that the fee likely pays for staff that work on Callan’s Kicks rather than going to Callan directly. More transparencyBakhurst insisted he doesn’t know of anything untoward lurking in the undergrowth and will bring it out if he finds out. He repeatedly argued that he has pushed a renewed transparency agenda at RTÉ. He said he would consider producing total figures for payments to top earners, including non core payments such as Callan’s – although warned it was not standard practice for any European broadcaster.He also said he wanted to publish more information on top earners but had been hamstrung by data privacy laws – saying he had raised this, and the potential need for new legislation to counteract this, with the Government.Seán RocksCommittee chair Alan Kelly said the late RTÉ broadcaster’s family has been left in such a poor financial position that they are going to have to leave their home. Rocks’s categorisation as a producer, while being paid a top-up for presenting, has led to financial difficulties for his family after his death, politicians have said in recent days. Bakhurst said he had taken the issue to the board but suggested his hands were tied as he had to have one rule for everyone working at the organisation, even in the face of such difficulties. Top 10 listCommittee chair Alan Kelly said in light of what has come out, the top 10 earners list should be disregarded as a “waste of space”.He also put it to Bakhurst that if all payments were included, some on air presenters could be paid more than the DG himself, with Bakhurst agreeing. The DG has previously said nobody in RTÉ should earn more than him. Prague tripRTÉ confirmed that it sent 41 staff to Prague for Ireland’s crucial World Cup playoff in March, with 21 from radio alone, at a cost of €25,000.Bakhurst defended the trip, saying it turned a profit for radio when advertising revenue was counted – but faced criticism as the broadcaster has apparently sent nobody to cover the team’s next game, the less glamorous friendly against Grenada this month. Dancing with the StarsMarty Morrissey was not paid anything extra for appearing on Dancing with the Stars, the committee was told. Des Cahill who also appeared is a contractor, according to RTÉ, who also said they would check if any other RTÉ presenters appearing on the show were paid a fee.