RTE star Claire Byrne took a €70,000 pay cut after she quit hosting her Monday night show, Claire Byrne Live.
And the Laois native confirmed she never looked for any "side deal" while admitting she was "heartbroken" for Ryan Tubridy, who is at the centre of the controversy.
The broadcaster made a lengthy statement at the start of her radio programme on Monday morning, saying she wanted to be honest with listeners.
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"I hope you can trust me," she said, adding that she realised this is an amount "way beyond what many people would hope to earn."
She said that she had "no prior warning, no inkling that there was a problem on the horizon".
"My most recent published fee was €350,000. This was the fee agreed by RTÉ, for me to present this radio programme and Claire Byrne Live and as you know, I decided not to continue with that television show for personal and family reasons," she said.
"And so, in order to be fully transparent with you, I want you to know that my RTÉ fee now is €280,000 and that fee is for presenting this programme."
Ms Byrne said that the last contract was negotiated by Noel Kelly.
She added that she recently presented the television quiz show, Ireland's Smartest and for that, she was paid a separate fee of €25,000. That contract was negotiated by other members of the NK Management company, she said.
"I acknowledge that the fee is significant and way beyond what many people could hope to earn. There are others who will, no doubt, have more to say about it I am sure, but my personal decision here this morning is to be open and honest with you," she said.
Ms Byrne said she listened to Friday's Liveline and the callers who spoke about "being disappointed and they talked about trust being broken and the importance of transparency.
"For me, and for the great people I work with every day on this show, hearing that is nothing short of heartbreaking," she said.
"As programme-makers, our aim is to be consistent, fair, and professional and to respect the hard-earned trust that you, the audience, has in us."
Ms Byrne said she "never sought, been offered or discussed any kind of commercial or side deal" and that no other payment exists or has ever existed beyond her published fee.
With the fee that she earns, she said, comes "a duty for me to treat this position with respect and I hope that you can trust me and the team of journalists I work with, to cover this story with the same rigour and balance as we would any other story on this programme".
Her comments come in the wake of RTE’s director-general Dee Forbes' decision to quit the broadcaster with immediate effect on Monday morning.
