Mr. Brendan McDonagh:

The review, which was NTMA wide and was not restricted to NAMA, arose as a result of a discussion on gardening leave during a meeting between the chief executive of the NTMA and the committee. The NTMA commissioned Matheson to carry out a review of best practice across various organisations. The review made a recommendation that was approved by the advisory committee, the de facto board of the NTMA. The recommendation also went to the board of NAMA to advise its members that gardening leave would be three months for more junior ranking employees and six months for individuals in senior positions. This recommendation has been put in place. I should add that all contracts in NAMA provided for three months gardening leave in any case. Where someone is promoted to a very senior position in the agency or we recruit someone from the market to a senior position, the period in his or her contract will be six months.