RTÉ top earners like Claire Byrne, Joe Duffy and Miriam O'Callaghan could be facing big pay cuts as Director General Kevin Bakhurst announced a €250,000 pay cap.

In this new reform plan for the embattled broadcaster, it was declared that “no salary will exceed that of the Director-General.

Mr Bakhurst confirmed when he took up the role that his salary would be €250,000 a year.

READ MORE: RTÉ set to get €56m bailout as fear mounts at troubled broadcaster over job cuts

The strategic vision plan, called “A New Direction” came as the Government confirmed interim funding worth €56m to the broadcaster over the next two years. The €40m next year will be dependent on reforms implemented at the embattled broadcaster.

One reform states that no person will be paid more than the Director General.

The list of top 10 earners for 2021 showed that Ryan Tubridy (€440,000), Joe Duffy, (€351,000) Claire Byrne (€350,000), Ray D'Arcy (€305,000) and Miriam O'Callaghan, (€263,500) all earned over €250,000.

Mr D'Arcy confirmed in June that his salary had decreased to €250,000. Ms Byrne confirmed in July that her salary is €280,000 after she finished doing the Claire Byrne Live show.

The plan says that salaries will be lowered as contracts expire and new staff are hired.

“We will continue to reduce the pay of RTÉ’s highest-paid presenters,” the plan stated.

On RTÉ’s Drivetime, Mr Bakhurst was asked what would happen if people currently earning more than €250,000 decided to leave due to the new pay cap.

“Well then we get another presenter,” he said.

It was put to him that household names like Joe Duffy, Claire Byrne and Miriam O'Callaghan all earn over the new cap.

Mr Bakhurst continued: “They're hugely valued presenters. But we don't have that many who earn more than the Director General.

“This has been corrosive for RTÉ for a number of years and we had to deal with it… [The] high salaries that we've been paying presenters that are perceived as way too high.

“The three presenters you've named there, they're all hugely valued and really important to us.

“We sincerely hope that they stay when their contracts come up and we renegotiate them because they are household names.

“If you say no one is going to earn more than the Director General then no one is going to earn more than the Director General.

Mr Bakhurst also confirmed reports that there will be 400 fewer jobs at the broadcaster, with redundancies aiming to reduce the number of staff earning over €100,000.

An initial and limited Voluntary Exit Programme will aim to reduce 40 roles in 2024. This will be funded by the 2017 sale of land in Donnybrook.

“We will be a more streamlined, modern and simplified organisation, with fewer employees (with a net headcount reduction of up to 20% or 400 people), reduced overheads and updated technology,” the plan reads.

RTÉ will implement a minimum of €10m cuts for 2024. This will include cuts to content, recruitment and freezes, pauses on discretionary spending and the postponement of a range of capital and strategic projects.

The broadcaster stated that it will “commission significantly more content from independent production companies across Ireland and increase support to the creative economy, aiming to increase our overall investment by 50 per cent”.

Operation centres will be expanding in Cork, while service in Dublin will be reduced. RTÉ will also aim to increase production in Limerick and Galway.

There will be investment in a “consolidated Donnybrook campus” to enable “modern working and production practices”.

While the sale of the Donnybrook campus was considered, the plans stated that this would not be “economically viable”.

There will be additional investment in the RTÉ Player, a new audio app and an expanded RTÉ News app.

Television channels RTÉ One +1 and RTÉ2 +1 will be closed down, as will RTÉ Radio 1 Extra, RTÉ 2XM, RTÉ Pulse and RTÉjr Radio.

“As the recipient of public funds, we have to be a careful custodian of those monies,” the plan states.

RTÉ also confirmed that it will hire a new “Disinformation Correspondent”.

Additional income will be raised through a new commercial strategy that will be developed in 2024 to “increase the contribution made to the production of public service content”.

There will also be a range of financial and governance reforms, with the launch of new registers and reporting functions, including a Register of Commercial Interests, a Register of Commercial Activities and the publication of expenses, the salaries of the leadership team and anonymised top 100 salaries.

Mr Bakhurst said that RTÉ “recognises the urgent need to restore trust” following the financial scandal that has engulfed the broadcaster.

“2024 will be a challenging year and one in which we will have to manage our cost base carefully. Hard choices will be made.”

Siún Ní Raghallaigh, Chair of the RTÉ Board, said: “We are very conscious of the concerns of RTÉ staff as we embark upon this important process of change and reform.

"The Board of RTÉ fully supports the work and commitment of the Director General and his leadership team," she said.

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