Final wind-down of State’s 'bad bank' included exit payments averaging €147,000 per employee

THE FINAL WIND-DOWN of NAMA left a bill of almost €8 million in termination payments for staff this year.

New figures show that 54 employees were eligible for payments totalling €7.96 million, an average cost of around €147,000 per employee.

The largest cost was just over €4 million in ex-gratia redundancy payments, which was shared among 47 departing staff.

A further €1.53 million was paid in salary to those 47 employees while they were on garden leave, according to records released under the Freedom of Information Act.

Retention payments totalling €1.13 million were also payable to a total of 49 employees as the asset management agency shut its doors.

Seven staff members were subsequently transferred to the Resolution Unit of the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA).

That unit will oversee the management and disposal of NAMA’s remaining assets.

A detailed breakdown of €6.43 million in payments shows that €681,000 was paid out in statutory redundancy.

A further €4.066 million was paid in “ex-gratia redundancy” with additional payments of €172,000 and €249,000 respectively for employer PRSI and employer pension.

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There were retention payments of €1.134 million, and €127,000 in employer PRSI on those lump sums.

NAMA said “only contractual remuneration” was paid during garden leave.

Just under €270,000 was paid out for untaken annual leave, the records also showed.

Asked about the payments for untaken holidays, a spokesperson for the NTMA said this was additional to the €7.9 million in termination benefits.

NAMA’s 2024 annual report had estimated that the cost of payouts for staff leaving would be in the region of €12.4 million.

However, the spokesperson said overall costs so far included payments made last year and this year, with further payments scheduled for 2027.

They said: “The difference between this figure and the €12.4 million figure in the 2024 NAMA Annual Report is primarily attributable to payments made in 2025 and payments that are scheduled to be made after certain staff members’ fixed term contracts come to an end in 2027.”

NAMA was officially dissolved during the summer, 17 years after it was set up to manage toxic loans from the financial crisis.

When it finished its work, it still held residential assets of around €22 million.

It also had €50 million in cash that was handed over to the NTMA, while property assets worth €425 million were transferred to the Land Development Agency (LDA) in 2025.