IT'S good to hear you back on the radio, Pat, after your well-deserved break for a few weeks. Mind you, Myles Duncan did a pretty good job in your absence. But not to worry, I reckon your job is relatively safe for another while yet. That must be nice to know, Pat, all the same, that your job is relatively safe. And I bet it's even nicer to hear knowing in the back of your mind that you earn more than any government minister, the Taoiseach and the vast majority of chief executives of the largest corporations based in this country.

Funny though how I've never heard you, Miriam O'Callaghan or Sean O'Rourke ever discuss the issue of salaries and packages paid to RTE's highest earners. One thing RTE is good at is self-promotion and using one programme to promote another, or the use of radio programming to promote its TV schedule. Despite this, I've never heard you or O'Rourke grill one of your own colleagues about the ridiculous amounts of money some presenters earn in RTE.

I found your comments and those made a few days ago by Miriam O'Callaghan and Sean O'Rourke, well, amusing to say the least.

Responding to comments made by Claire Duignan, RTE's managing director of radio, who said RTE stars will have to accept more 'modest remuneration' in the future, you, Pat, quickly reminded everybody that ye all had taken pay cuts in RTE already. Nowhere in your comments did I find even the remotest hint that you might be paid too much in the first place.

You and your colleagues in RTE obviously see yourselves as L'Oreal presenters, simply because ye are worth it. Because ye command such powerful and privileged positions, ye think the salaries should directly reflect that.

Firstly, Pat, let me remind you of a few basic facts. At your peak, you earned over €900,000 a year from RTE. That, by any standards or the wildest stretch of the imagination, is a ridiculous amount of money for anybody to earn. I don't care how good you are or how talented your bosses feel you are – that money is an insult to licence fee payers.

Secondly, practically every single working person in this country has taken a hit to their pockets in one shape or form over the past two or three years. If the government didn't manage to nail you somewhere along the line, then your employer got you by way of pay cuts or three-day-weeks or you were simply made redundant and chucked onto the dole queue.

That's the reality of recession. You did indeed take a pay cut. But don't try to play the victim or conveniently lump yourself in with everybody else when it comes to sharing the pain. A 10 per cent wage cut on your money is pittance. A 10 per cent cut when you earn €30,000 a year is a different ball game.

Thirdly, surely a credibility issue arises when you and some of your colleagues earn the money ye do while at the same time supposedly tackling the key players over the economic disaster that is crippling this country. Are we to honestly take you seriously when you tackle a government minister over value for money, money wastage and lavish expenses when you, yourself, earn over three times their salary?

And remember, the size of your pay packet is in no small way linked to the fact that thousands of homeowners in this country pay a licence fee to RTE, despite the fact that the station also generates income from advertising revenue.

And how could somebody who earns over half a million euro every year possibly have a real grasp of issues like unemployment, poverty and social deprivation?

At the end of the day Pat, it's not your fault at all. If your agent manages to negotiate the package with RTE bosses, then you, understandably, are going to take what you can get. But the point doesn't begin and end there. There's a thing called leadership, or humility at the very least.

I've no doubt that were you and Miriam and a few others to collectively come out and say ' hold on, we are simply paid way too much for what we do', then people's attitudes towards our best-known stars would change dramatically. It would give you a whole new-found credibility and sense of solidarity with the vast majority of people in this country who listen to you every day talk about the issues affecting them right now.

It would end any sense of elitism that exists in RTE. And it would show that those in privileged positions are using those positions to lead by example. It's a bit like Minister Noel Dempsey and a few others when it comes to the use (or abuse) of taxpayers' money. It's not just the amount of money that counts; it's the principle of the whole thing, the right-and-wrong of what's going on in this country. You're excellent at what you do, Pat, one of the best. Sean O'Rourke is, in my view, the best broadcast journalist in this country. And Miriam is outstanding too. But things have changed, Pat, in this country, changed unbelievably. Maybe you should seriously consider living on a real salary for a while, just to fully understand how much things really have changed. Yours truly, Aidan O'Connor

- AIDAN O'CONNOR