Noonan confirms NTMA had 14 staff earning over €200k last year

The Minister for Finance Michael Noonan has confirmed that 14 members of staff at the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) were in receipt of salaries exceeding €200,000 last year – even after the public sector pay cuts imposed last July.

In a written Dáil response to Sinn Féin's Pearse Doherty, Mr Noonan confirmed that at the end of December 31st last, one employee of the NTMA was earning more than €400,000, with three others earning between €300,000 and €400,000. The three earning between €300,000 and €400,000 include two from the National Asset Management Agency, which falls under the NTMA's aegis.

At the end of December last, the NTMA employed 325, with Nama employing 332.

Minister Noonan confirmed that 10 employees of the NTMA and Nama earned between €200,000 and €300,000. Eight such individuals were at the NTMA, with two at Nama.

The Minister further confirmed that there were an additional 162 employees at the agencies in receipt of salaries between €100,000 and €200,000, 105 from Nama and 57 from the NTMA

Taxable benefits
Minister Noonan confirmed that the pay to staff disclosed includes taxable benefits and excludes pension contributions.

He also confirmed that 481 staff are on salaries up to €100,000 with 223 staff at Nama in that category and 258 at the NTMA.

Last July, staff at the NTMA lost their exemption from public pay cuts and those earning over €200,000 at the NTMA were subject to cuts of 10 per cent in salary.

The NTMA employees earning between €100,000 and €200,000 incurred pay reductions between 8 per cent and 10 per cent in the public sector pay cuts.

The cut in salaries to high fliers at the NTMA and Nama coincided with the numbers leaving Nama last year increasing by more than 30 per cent on the numbers that left the agency in 2012. According to figures provided by Minister Noonan in a separate written Dáil answer to Fianna Fail’s finance spokesman Michael McGrath, some 29 members of staff left Nama last year.

This represented an increase of 31 per cent on the 22 that left Nama in 2012.