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The head of the Irish Government’s official disinformation watchdog, Coimisiún na Méan, is on a salary of over €250,000 per year, according to the State agency’s most recently available annual report.
Coimisiún na Méan – which translates to “the Media Commission” – is the State’s media regulator, which is responsible for regulating broadcasters, video-on-demand providers and online platforms in Ireland. Established in 2023, they were set up to replace the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland.
Part of their job involves enforcing EU digital rules like the Digital Services Act, which means regulating alleged “misinformation”, “disinformation” and “hate speech” on the internet to ensure “online safety”. They also provide funding to most media outlets in Ireland via various Government-backed grants and schemes.
They have over 300 staff and, as of 2024, a total operational spend of €30.4 million, of which €12.7 million went towards wages. As a taxpayer-funded State agency, they report directly to the Department of Communications.
According to the organisation’s 2024 annual report – the most recently available release – chairman Jeremy Godfrey is on a salary of €250,272.
Meanwhile, an additional 25 staff receive in excess of €100,000.
Of these, four senior members pull in between €180,000 and €200,000 annually, while 21 others sit in the €100,000 to €150,000 bracket.
Moreover, between 2023 and 2024, €97,000 was spent on “employee wellbeing”. During the same period, €219,000 was spent on overseas “travel and subsistence”, and €35,000 was spent on domestic travel.
Between 2024 and 2023, between “legal advice”, “expert advice”, “other consultancy fees” and “market research”, the agency spent €6,555,000. Meanwhile actual legal proceedings cost €2,858,000.
The Commissions legal bills are expected to rise significantly as legal challenges are mounted by major social media firms such as X and TikTok who take exception to the agency’s plans to regulate the online space.
As of January of this year, they were facing a dozen legal challenges from different Big Tech companies.
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