NTMA/NAMA salaries - Transparency is crucial

THE juicy pay of senior staff at the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA), incorporating NAMA (the National Asset Management Agency), raises questions about value for money or whether the combined agencies are another gravy train.

Astonishingly, the salaries of 16 top staff at NTMA, which handles the state’s debt, and at NAMA, which manages toxic bank debts, run to more than €200,000 a year. They are even better paid than our pampered Government ministers who pocket €181,000 a year.

The reluctance of NTMA to come clean about the contracts of high earners is predicated on claims that such information is commercially sensitive. That is arrant nonsense. When these people are recruited the pay and perks on offer become widely known in the sector.

The culture of excessive pay and perks is at the heart of the country’s financial problems, ranging from the banks to the public sector.

Apart from knowing what top NTMA and NAMA bosses are paid, there is little point identifying staff members with what they earn. However, a much more precise breakdown of agency salaries is called for. Not only will it ensure transparency at the agencies, it will also to serve the interests of the public who, at the end of the day, are paying their wages.