Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 June 2014
200. Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly asked the Minister for Finance the restrictions that apply to the future employment of a person (details supplied) who resigned from his position at the National Asset Management Agency, NAMA, and its board in January 2014. [26063/14]
View answerI note this morning's press coverage of IPUT CEO's indication that the individual (details supplied) has agreed to join IPUT as a non-executive director. I would note that the individual (details supplied) will have voluntarily remained out of the market for 6 months by the time he joins the board of IPUT. The individual (details supplied) has assured my officials that he is fully aware of and remains bound by the ethical obligations arising from his position with NAMA as well as his own high professional standards. There is no conflict of interest arising. I would again like to thank the individual (details supplied) for his work at NAMA and wish him well in his new role.
I do not propose to discuss the details of individual employment contracts between the NTMA and members of staff further. I am advised that the general position is as follows. In early 2013, the NTMA Chief Executive committed to a review of NTMA policy in respect of notice periods and post-termination restrictions on employment. Accordingly, the law firm Matheson was engaged by the NTMA to:
(i) advise on market norms in the private sector in terms of notice periods and post-termination restrictions;
(ii) assess the adequacy of the protections in the current NTMA employment contracts/codes of conduct where employees leave the NTMA to join a commercial entity in the private sector that might gain an unfair advantage by employing them; and
(iii) recommend changes that could be made in this area by the NTMA.
This review applied across all the NTMA's business areas, including NAMA. All NAMA staff are employees of the NTMA and under Section 42 of the National Asset Management Agency Act, 2009 the NTMA assigns staff to NAMA. Other than a small number of staff reassigned from other functions within the NTMA, NAMA staff are employed on the basis of specified purpose contracts their employment lasts for as long as NAMA requires their particular function. Matheson's principal recommendations were as follows:
- longer notice periods (3 to 6 months) to be introduced for middle and senior NTMA management employees;
- garden leave provisions to be included in all NTMA employment contracts; and
- post-termination employment restrictions (including cooling-off periods and non-solicitation of employees) to be considered on a case-by-case basis in respect of senior NTMA management employees in particular.
However, Matheson stressed that the imposition of such restrictions would need to be balanced against the NTMA's need to recruit good candidates for whom such restrictions may act as a significant disincentive to taking up employment with the NTMA. Furthermore, to maximise the prospects of enforceability, Matheson advised that any such restrictions would need to be drafted as narrowly as possible. It was proposed by Matheson that any required changes resulting from these recommendations would be introduced for new NTMA employees and for existing NTMA employees on promotion. The NTMA has accepted the Matheson proposals and is implementing them on this basis.
With regard to staff assigned to NAMA, it should be noted that the 3 month notice period and garden leave provision were already in operation since the first persons were assigned at start of 2010. A provision prohibiting certain activities in an employee's subsequent employment for a defined period of time has also been introduced on a case-by-case basis for new employees, in cases where employees have moved from fixed to specified purpose contracts, and on promotion.
The Deputy will also be aware of Section 202 provisions in NAMA Act which are lifelong provisions with respect to confidentiality for all current and former staff assigned to NAMA and to members of the NAMA Board. In addition, I would draw the Deputy's attention to the Board of NAMA's voluntary policy with respect to post-retirement / resignation employment, appointments or consultancy by former members of the Board, except those Board members who are NTMA employees. The policy sets out that appointed members of the NAMA Board should not, within six months of retiring / resigning from the Board of NAMA:
- accept an offer of employment or other appointment,
- accept an engagement in a particular consultancy project, or
- accept a directorship or other similar opportunity,
where the nature and terms of such employment, appointment or engagement could reasonably be considered to lead to a conflict of interest or the perception of such, without first obtaining the approval from the Board of NAMA.
