TWENTY-FOUR STAFF at the State agency responsible for managing Ireland’s debt have company cars, it has emerged.
It has also emerged that the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) bought at least one, or possibly two cars, worth nearly €40,000 for use by staff on work-related travel after the State guaranteed the banks in 2008.
The details of the company cars that are owned and operated by the NTMA have emerged in a parliamentary question that was answered by Finance Minister Michael Noonan this week.
Noonan has confirmed that 24 of the NTMA’s five hundred employees are provided with company cars as part of their overall remuneration package.
This includes staff employed on work related to the State Claims Agency and the National Development Finance Agency.
“Company cars are a taxable benefit and no pension entitlement accrues in respect of such a benefit,” Noonan told the independent TD Shane Ross who submitted the question.
In addition to the 24 cars two further cars are owned by the NTMA and are used by employees for work-related travel. The two vehicles cost on average €38,155 and have an average age of four years.
This means that at least one of the cars was bought in 2009, after the State guarantee of the banks which has seen Ireland pump some €64.1 billion into its troubled banking sector.
The value of the two cars has been written down to just €7,986 and cost on average €5,394 to run last year, according to the Minister.
A spokesman for the NTMA said the agency would not go into detail on the type of cars involved.
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