Recent figures revealing the gender pay gap in BBC salaries led to the call here for RTE to release their figures, so today the national broadcaster brought forward the announcement of its highest earners for 2015.

It's no surprise that once again Late Late Show host Ryan Tubridy is the highest paid presenter, earning €495,000, the same amount he was paid in 2014.

In at number 2 is Ray D'Arcy with earnings of €400,000, while Joe Duffy follows in third place earning €389,988 in 2015, down from €416,893 in 2014.

There are just three women presenters on the top ten list, although that's up from two in 2014. They are Miriam O'Callaghan, who earns €299,000, Marian Finucane who was paid €295,000 while Claire Byrne is the new entrant in the top ten making €201,500 in 2015.

RTÉ Director General Dee Forbes said: "The audited figures released today for 2015 sees RTÉ maintain our commitment to reduce these earnings by 30% as compared to 2008 levels, while continuing to value the significant contribution our presenters make to public media and to RTÉ’s ability to optimise commercial revenue to support our public services.

"This will continue to be an area of focus for me, as I look to reduce costs across the organisation."

Forbes added: "The issue of gender pay is an important one. It is crucial to understand, in terms of the Top 10 figures released today, that many factors influence presenter fees – there are significant variations in programme commitments, broadcast hours and audience numbers.

"As stated recently, RTÉ’s new Director of Human Resources, Eimear Cusack, has initiated a review of role and gender equality across the organisation. In parallel with that, I will also be working with channel and station management to look at greater representational equality in terms of the make-up of our contributor panels."

Top 10 RTE presenter salaries in 2015:

10. Darragh Moloney €188,803 (not in 2014 figures)

9. Bryan Dobson - €195,913 (€195,816 in 2014)

8. Nicky Byrne €200,583 (not in 2014 figures)

7. Claire Byrne €201,500 (not in 2014 figures)

6. Sean O'Rourke - €290,113 (€290,096 in 2014)

5. Marian Finucane - €295,000 (€295,000 in 2014)

4. Miriam O'Callaghan - €299,000 (€280,445 in 2014)

3. Joe Duffy - €389,988 (€416,893 in 2014)

2. Ray D'Arcy €400,000 (not in 2014 figures)

1. Ryan Tubridy €495,000 (€495,000 in 2014)