The National Treasury Management Agency has agreed to make retention payments totalling €210,000 to four key staff members over the next two years if they stay with the organisation until set dates in 2016 and 2017.
Under separate agreements, three staff on fixed-term contracts stand to receive a total of €196,250 on completion of their contracts if they do not join the NTMA on a permanent basis.
Such arrangements were disclosed by Minister for Finance Michael Noonan in a reply to parliamentary question in which he said the NTMA has already paid a total of €199,200 this year in performance-related and retention payments.
This sum, set out in a response this week to Fianna Fáil finance spokesman Michael McGrath, is €10,000 more than the Minister disclosed in a reply last week to a previous question from Mr McGrath.
“The NTMA has now advised me that they made an additional retention payment of €10,000 which they had erroneously classified as a contract completion payment and was omitted from their response to [the previous question]\,” Mr Noonan said.
There was no change to data the Minister had provided for 2014, a year in which the NTMA paid €136,500 in performance-related and retention pay.
“The relevant salary band in respect of the retention payments is €50,000 to €100,000 (one employee) and €150,000 to €200,000 (three employees, one of whom received a retention payment in 2014 and 2015),” he said.
Specific dates
“In respect of the retention payments disclosed, a total of €210,000 potentially remains to be paid if the employees in question remain in employment until specific dates in 2016 and 2017.”
On contract completion payments, Mr Noonan cited a response he provided to a parliamentary question in 2013 .
“In a limited number of cases where the NTMA employs staff with very marketable skills (particularly in the area of IT) on fixed-term contracts as opposed to permanent contracts, contract completion payments were made upon the expiry of the fixed-term contract in question,” the Minister said.
“In 2014, a total of €53,208 was paid to 10 employees upon expiry of their fixed-term contracts while in 2015 a total of €81,956 was paid to 15 employees upon expiry of their fixed-term contracts,” he added.
“There are three such contract completion arrangements outstanding and a total of €196,250 potentially remains to be paid to the employees in question upon completion of their fixed-term contracts. No contract completion payments will be made to any of the three employees in question if they become a permanent employee.”
Mr Noonan said said the practice of entering into employment contracts providing for retention payments or contract completion payments has been discontinued.
“No retention arrangement has been entered into since mid 2014. None of the arrangements described above extend beyond 2017.”
