Me and my salary:

his only print interview,

THE public are still in the dark about just how much presenter Stephen Nolan is paid by the BBC, a senior DUP politician warned last night.

Mr Nolan was revealed yesterday to be one of the BBC’s top earners across the UK, with a salary of between £400,000 and £449,999 a year.

The BBC was forced by Government to reveal the pay of all stars earning over £150,000. Mr Nolan was the only BBC Northern Ireland figure in the published list, and was in the top 10 overall.

Chris Evans was in top spot with between £2.2m and £2.25m a year, followed by Gary Lineker on £1,750,000-£1,799,999.

Mr Nolan’s published pay package covers his three presenting roles: his weekday morning shows on BBC Radio Ulster, four late-night programmes per week on BBC 5 Live and 18 Nolan Live TV programmes a year.

But in common with other BBC presenters on the list the figure does not include payments to independent broadcasting companies for making documentaries and other TV programmes for the BBC.

DUP MP Gregory Campbell last night said questions remained unanswered and revealed plans for a Parliamentary debate on BBC transparency.

“I welcome this publication as a first step but it is only a first step. We also need to know how much public money presenters, including Stephen Nolan, are also receiving through their private limited companies, some of which fulfil contracts to the BBC,” he said.

The additional payments were also highlighted in a tweet by a former BBC news boss yesterday.

Reacting to a post about Mr Nolan’s salary in comparison to other big names, ex-head of BBC NI TV news, Angelina Fusco, tweeted that “those salaries don’t take into account all the extra programmes BBC commissions from the talents’ individual production firms”.

Mr Campbell said he welcomed that clarification of the position.

“I have asked a series of questions of Mr Nolan’s companies and BBC NI about this matter over several months. So far the answers have been arrogant at best and evasive at worst.

“I have already requested and secured a parliamentary debate in the autumn on BBC transparency. I will be using this debate to outline my concerns.”

A BBC spokesperson last night said: “The Government has said we only need to disclose payments made to individuals directly from the licence fee.

“Some well-known names on the BBC are on programmes made by independent production companies. We pay a fee to the company for the delivery of the programmes.

“The decision on what to pay the talent and the contractual obligations rests with the independent producers rather than the BBC.”

Mr Nolan was given a lively interview by BBC Radio Ulster colleague Seamus McKee yesterday evening, during which he challenged Mr McKee to reveal his pay.

Meanwhile, the head of the Community Relations Council has said he’s more concerned about the content of Stephen Nolan programmes than the presenter’s earnings.

As news broke about the salary, Council chair Peter Osborne tweeted: “It’s not the cost of Stephen Nolan I’m worried about, it’s the cost to community relations of some of the programme content and tone.”

Mr Osborne told the Belfast Telegraph: “I think some of the Nolan Show is fantastic, I think you could define it as the best and worst of public broadcasting at times.

“While it can be very good, there are times it deals with issues that are very contentious in a very contentious way and sometimes that doesn’t help.”

The BBC meanwhile is facing a gender pay gap storm, with males making up two-thirds of the stars earning more than £150,000.