Results 11,481-11,500 of 18,851 for speaker:Fergus O'Dowd

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Fergus O'Dowd: I will take on board and look at the commitment we made before Report Stage.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Fergus O'Dowd: I move amendment No. 4: In page 16, to delete line 20 and substitute the following:“shown.”.“(4) Any contract or instrument which, if entered into or executed by an individual, would not require to be under seal, may be entered into or executed on behalf of the Agency by any person generally or specially authorised by the Agency to act in that...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Fergus O'Dowd: On that point, a sale would require a decision of the Government and be subject to debate in the Oireachtas.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Fergus O'Dowd: It is not correct to claim that the NTMA would be doing that.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Fergus O'Dowd: The issues the Deputy is raising form part of a debate in which we do not agree with each other's points. I am sorry if my previous reply upset him, but I am not in a position to read his mind and see what he learned from whatever parliamentary questions he submitted. I am happy to give replies to his questions and do not mean to upset him. The Deputy's question is on how to benchmark the...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Fergus O'Dowd: I am looking at the figures. Some 325 people work for the NTMA. Of those, 25 earn more than €150,000. The majority earn much less. I do not have the averages with me, but up to 99 people earn under €50,000, 112 earn between €50,000 and €75,000, 50 earn between €75,000 and €100,000 and 26 earn between €100,000 and €125,000. The...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Fergus O'Dowd: Commonsense must apply. Remuneration must be reasonable. It could not be €800,000. I do not know who would do that but it would have to be reasonable. I presume it would have to be-----

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Fergus O'Dowd: No, in fairness, the amount of money they would get would have to be decided looking at what other people with comparable skills and knowledge bring to other boards. What is important is that we have the best skills available to the NTMA. We are talking about billions of euro being invested and preparing the country for the creation of, hopefully, thousands of jobs and restoring us to full...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Fergus O'Dowd: I said that it is outside the public sector as such in that they are not working for the State. If they are working for the State or are ex-officiomembers, I presume they just get their normal salary.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Fergus O'Dowd: I understand current remuneration is lower than the public sector pay caps which apply for the banks.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Fergus O'Dowd: Yes.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Fergus O'Dowd: These are very good questions and the Deputy is entitled to proper and adequate responses, which I hope he has received.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Fergus O'Dowd: The number of boards is being reduced in this legislation. A number of them have been amalgamated. The answer I gave the Deputy is that remuneration of members of the agency, in effect, its board, does not fall within the public sector pay caps. The questions are whether they are doing a good job and how effective they are. Are we getting value for money? They are the real questions....

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Fergus O'Dowd: The NTMA is a unique position in that it was established to perform commercial and market-facing functions while being funded from the Exchequer except in the case of NAMA, which reimburses the NTMA from income generated from NAMA's operations for expenses incurred in respect of NAMA. The NTMA operates along private sector lines within a public sector environment managing a complex portfolio...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Fergus O'Dowd: It is not. The remuneration of the members of the agency - in effect, its board - does not fall within the public sector pay caps. It is for the Minister for Finance to decide on the remuneration of NTMA members. Members should expect remuneration to reflect the substantial commercial responsibilities that go with these positions and the type of international business and finance expertise...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Fergus O'Dowd: Is the Deputy referring to Uachtarán na hÉireann?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Fergus O'Dowd: I am sorry; I do not understand the question. If one is no longer a Member of the Oireachtas-----

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Fergus O'Dowd: Is the Deputy stating the President who is not a Member of either House of the Oireachtas or the European Parliament could, in theory, be a member of the agency?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Fergus O'Dowd: Why not?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Fergus O'Dowd: The question is whether the President who is not a Member of either House of the Oireachtas could be a member of the agency. One is not precluded.