Nama to face questions from TDs over whether staff will keep six-figure salaries
The committee, chaired by Sinn Féin's Mairéad Farrell, will meet today for the first time in this Dáil term. It will also seek to bring in the governor of the Central Bank, Gabriel Makhlouf, to discuss its role in facilitating the sale of Israeli bonds in Europe.
Ms Farrell said she would like to establish whether Nama chief executive Brendan McDonagh will retain his €430,000 salary when he returns to the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) later this year.
After a failed attempt to appoint Mr McDonagh as the new 'housing tsar' following public outcry and opposition from Fine Gael, questions arose as to whether he would keep his salary when Nama's work is complete.
Legislation to wind up Nama is due to go before the committee in the coming weeks. It provides for the establishment of a small resolution unit within the NTMA to administer Nama affairs after it winds up.
Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe suggested last week that Mr McDonagh will not keep the salary.
'I expect there will be small number of people whose job it will be to see out the remaining work of Nama… it will not need a [CEO],' he said. 'It is my expectation that Brendan McDonagh will not be in that small unit.'
There is one other Nama employee on a salary of between €275,000 and €300,000 and a further four on salaries between €200,00 and €225,000.
Ms Farrell said there was an 'obvious question' around whether they would move to the NTMA and whether they would retain their salaries there.
Ms Farrell is also arranging to meet Mr Makhlouf, whom she hopes to call before the committee to discuss so-called Israeli 'war bonds'.
To be sold in the EU, bonds from non-EU countries must have their bond prospectus – a legal document – approved by an EU country. Israel traditionally had its European bond prospectuses approved in the UK, but turned to the Central Bank in Ireland for authorisations after Brexit.
'It is a very serious issue that has exercised an awful lot of people, so it is very important that this is discussed at the committee and I hope to do so as soon as is workable,' Ms Farrell said.
'The Central Bank clearly believe they have no legislative basis to stop the sale of these bonds, but I would disagree, and that is something we will have to discuss.'
The Galway West TD said the committee would also examine public procurement practices and whether taxpayers were getting value for money in public projects.
She will call in representatives from the Office of Public Works (OPW), which has been involved in a number of controversies since the committee last met.
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