RTE spent more than €200,000 on guest fees for three of its flagship shows last year.

New figures show that guest fees came to €105,312 for The Late Late Show and €83,359 for the Ray D'Arcy Show, while the costs were much lower for its current affairs show, Prime Time, at €12,976.

The figures were released under the Freedom of Information Act (FOI), and the broadcaster said: "In general, RTE pays for guests - which includes contributors and musicians - to appear on their entertainment programmes. However, where the guest is promoting a film, album, programme or book etc, no fee is usually paid."

It said the total spent last year in relation to guests on The Late Late Show and the Ray D'Arcy Show included contributors, musicians and band acts.

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Meanwhile, the information released said that Prime Time, which is hosted by Miriam O'Callaghan and David McCullagh, "generally does not pay guests for appearing on the programme, and only pays contributor fees to journalists and independent experts".

It said that political representatives who appeared on Prime Time are not paid a fee.

The newly released figures also revealed that the two shows splashed out tens of thousands on hospitality.

The "Green Room" bill came to €20,765 for The Late Late Show, hosted by Ryan Tubridy, last year, compared to €13,124 for the Ray D'Arcy show.

Sandwiches, finger food, tea and coffee, beer, wine, spirits, soft drinks and water, as well as glass and crockery hire were all included.

However, the bill for both shows was significantly higher when it came to audience hospitality, with The Late Late having costs of €36,942 and the Ray D'Arcy show spending €33,510.

When it came to the amount spent on guest travel last year, the bill racked up for the Ray D'Arcy show was even higher, at €72,333 last year over the course of its 32 episodes. The bill for the The Late Late Show, with 37 episodes, came to €68,214.

By contrast, the bill for Prime Time came to just €487, despite there being 83 episodes of the flagship programme.

The figures provided for guest travel included flights, accommodation and ground transportation, but did not include taxis.

Herald