FINANCE:THE CHIEF executive of the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) has disputed the employee figures relating to the agency in the report, and criticised its recommendations on staff reductions.
Dr Michael Somers said the NTMA, which manages the State’s debt, employs a staff of 168 and not the 217 cited in the report by the review group chaired by economist Colm McCarthy.
Mr McCarthy’s group recommended that staff numbers at the NTMA be reduced by 40.
“We never had 217 staff, so cutting us from 217 is absolutely not a problem because we are below that,” said Dr Somers. “We would be delighted to cut 40 jobs on that basis.”
The NTMA chief executive also criticised the review group for not taking account of the additional workload imposed upon the agency by the Government as a result of the banking crisis.
“McCarthy has given us no credit for the huge efforts we have put in over the last 12 months in trying to solve the banking crisis,” said Dr Somers.
He said the NTMA had been asked to take on a considerably larger workload following the €7 billion recapitalisation of Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Banks, and Mr McCarthy’s report had not taken account of “all kinds of monitoring we have to do” as a result of that investment in the banks.
Dr Somers queried why the review group failed to consider the additional resources required at the agency now that the National Asset Management Agency (Nama), the State’s “bad bank” which will acquire toxic assets from the banks, would fall under the aegis of the NTMA.
“Why was it not considered if he was going to produce this report?” said Dr Somers.
“It has been a huge imposition on us.
“We didn’t hire a whole load of staff to deal with Nama and the banking crisis. We dealt with it on our own.”
