RTÉ spent over €260,000 on guests, catering and drinks for its three top chat shows last year, it has been revealed.
The Irish Mirror has reported that the station spent a whopping €176,725 on securing celebrity guests for the Late Late Show, the Ray D’Arcy Show and Saturday Night With Miriam in 2016.
In figures released under the Freedom of Information Act, the most expensive bill for guests came from The Late Late Show, as they forked out €93,985 over 37 episodes.
Miriam O’Callaghan’s chat show, which airs during the summer, was the second most expensive chat show, as it recorded a total spend of just under €2,400 per epsiode.
Money matters: Miriam O’Callaghan’s summer chat show was the second most expensive chat show in 2016 | RTE
Meanwhile, guests for Ray D’Arcy cost the station €63,622 – just over €2,000 per episode.
The newspaper has also reported that the the bill for guests was nearly €10,000 more than RTÉ paid in 2015.
Despite the expensive bill, RTÉ have previously revealed that not every guest that appears on their chat shows is paid a fee.
“In general RTE pays for guests in prime time entertainment programmes. However, where the guest is promoting a film, album, programme or book, etc, no fee is usually paid,” they said.
Expensive: RTÉ forked out a further €84,721 for food and beverages | RTE
Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for RTÉ has added, “All three chat shows made significant cost reductions in the last three years.”
The figures also revealed that beverage costs (both alcoholic and non-alcoholic) for the three chat shows came to €69,803,  with food costing another €14,918.
The total spend also included hospitality for more than 200 audience members each week on The Late Late Show and The Ray D’Arcy Show.
