€2.2m paid in performance-related payments to NTMA staff

A total of €2.2m was paid out in performance-related payments to 262 staff at the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) last year.

That is the same figure in bonuses and other performance-based pay that the NTMA gave staff the previous year, although in 2022 just 239 were recipients.

According to the Comptroller and Auditor General's (C&AG) Report on the Accounts of the Public Services 2023, €166,000 of the total was paid to just six members of the NTMA's executive management team.

That compares to €130,000 going to five members of the EMT a year earlier.

The chief executive of the NTMA did not receive a performance-related payment in respect of 2023 or 2022, the report says.

€602,000 in performance related payments were awarded to NTMA staff members assigned to other agencies last year.

Staff are the National Asset Management Agency shared €328,000, down from €341,000 a year earlier, while those at the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland collectively received €151,000, up from €136,000 in 2022.

Executives at Home Building Finance Ireland were recipients of a total of €123,000, up from €88,000 a year earlier.

The C&AG's report also outlines how the national debt rose 1.4% last year or €3.3 billion.

At the end of December, the national debt stood at €234 billion, up from €231 billion at the end of 2022.

Debt service costs were €3.3 billion, nearly 14% lower than in 2022 as a result of the interest rate environment.

The NTMA also transferred €825m to the Land Development Agency during the year while €4 billion was transferred to the National Surplus Reserve Fund.