The chief executive of the National Asset Management Agency (Nama), Brendan McDonagh, said he accepts he is a “very well-paid person” but believes his expertise could have added “value” to the Government’s new housing delivery agency.
The public servant was Minister for Housing James Browne’s top pick to lead the Coalition’s Housing Activation Office (HAO) until he withdrew his name from consideration earlier this month following political controversy over his €430,000 salary.
Mr McDonagh appeared before the Oireachtas Committee on Finance and Public Expenditure on Wednesday to discuss issues around the wind-down of Nama.
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He denied that the public discussion around his salary and a report on the Ditch website about his property dealings played any part in his decision to withdraw.
Asked by Sinn Féin finance spokesman Pearse Doherty about the process that led to the political farrago, Mr McDonagh said he had a general discussion with the secretary general in the Department of Housing, Graham Doyle, on April 10th.
At no point was his salary ever discussed, Mr McDonagh said.
“This is not a role I ever canvassed for,” he said.
On a call with the minister on April 16th, he was told that he had “the appropriate skills to help” and was asked whether he could put Mr McDonagh’s name forward for the top role at the HAO.
“That was my only discussion about the role with Minister Browne,” Mr McDonagh said, adding that he had no contact with “any other member of the political system” about it.
The former director of the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) told the committee that he withdrew his name from consideration on May 1st, “given there was a lot of public controversy” around the role.
“I’m not a political person,” he said. “I’m apolitical,” adding that he did not want the story to be all about him.
With Nama slated to be wound down this year and its staff transferred back to the NTMA, Mr Doherty asked whether Mr McDonagh would retain his €430,000 annual salary if he moved back into a senior role at the NTMA. The Donegal TD also asked if there is a clause in his contract that would allow for a salary reduction.
Mr McDonagh said he was not prepared to discuss personal matters, and that while his salary has been public knowledge since he joined Nama, his contract of employment is with the NTMA and the details are “personal”.
New website the Ditch reported on May 1st, before Mr McDonagh withdrew his name from consideration for the housing ‘tsar’ role, that a property the Nama chief jointly owned in Cabra, Dublin 7, was to let on a short-term letting site for €10,226 per week.
Mr McDonagh declined to answer questions about his “personal circumstances” on Wednesday, but said he is confident that he made all the relevant disclosures to the compliance department of the NTMA about his property dealings. “I have fully complied,” he said.
Responding to a question from Labour Party TD Ged Nash why he wanted the HAO job, Mr McDonagh said he accepts that he is a “very well-paid person, but I do believe I’ve demonstrated I can add value”.
