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THE HEAD OF National Asset Management Agency (Nama) has said his salary was never discussed when he was approached to become the so-called ‘housing tsar’.
Brendan McDonagh, who is appearing before the Oireachtas Finance Committee this afternoon, was questioned about his €430,000 salary, which sparked controversy when his name was in the mix to become the head of the new Housing Activation Unit.
Giving an outline of events, McDonagh said he discussed the possibility of taking on the role on 10 April, when he met the Secretary General of the Department of Housing.
A meeting on 16 April followed, after he met with Housing Minister James Browne.
He said it was “not a role I sought or canvassed for”, stating that he was told by the minister that his name had been mentioned in circles. McDonagh said Browne asked if he could propose his name at the Cabinet subcommittee on housing and McDonagh agreed.
“That was my only discussion about the role with Minister Browne,” he said, adding that he had no contact with anyone else within government.
“My salary was never discussed,” said McDonagh, who clarified that there was no discussion with the housing minister about his pay.
McDonagh said: “On the first of May, given there was a lot of political controversy about the role, I’m not a political person, I’m apolitical, I really felt I didn’t want to be part of that…I’m a public servant and I really didn’t want the story to be about me.”
In questioning the outgoing Nama boss, Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty asked: “Was it ever understood you were retaining your €430,000 salary?”
McDonagh accepted there was a lot of speculation about his salary in the media, but said it had never been discussed.
Doherty also asked him about reports that he rented out a property for €10,000 per week considering the housing crisis.
McDonagh said he would not answer questions about his personal circumstances.
Pushing the matter, Doherty asked about McDonagh about compliance with planning permission in relation to his rental accommodation. He also asked if there were any issues around the declaration of interests in renting out a property “of that value for €10,000 per week”.
However, McDonagh repeated that he would not discuss anything of a personal nature, but said: “I make all relevant disclosures.”
He added: “I am very conscious of my obligations.”
Doherty asked again if he was satisfied he had fully complied under his obligations as set out in his role in the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA). McDonagh replied: “I have fully complied with that.”
Doherty also questioned McDonagh on what his salary will be when he returns to the NTMA when Nama is wound down.
However, again, McDonagh refused to answer, stating that the matter was private.
Under questioning from Labour’s Ged Nash, McDonagh said he was interested in the role of the housing tsar, though he said he hated that term.
McDonagh said he felt he could add value to the role and had skills the job needed.
“We are all affected by the housing crisis, we all have kids… I believed I had something to offer,” he said.
However, alluding to a split at the highest level of government about his appointment, McDonagh said had he know someone was not supportive of him taking on the role, he wouldn’t have allowed his name got forward.
“But I wasn’t aware of that,” he said.
Prior to him stepping away from the process, Fine Gael made it known that it was unhappy with how the appointment was being handled, with Simon Harris ultimately blocking the appointment.
Explaining to the committee how he saw the role operating, McDonagh said there is a big difference between the housing policy and the implementation on the ground.
The job of the housing tsar would be looking at all zoned sites across the country, identifying infrastructure deficits, costing the site and estimating how many houses could fit on the site, as well as making a recommendation to government.
“There are lots of zoned land sites that will never be built on because of infrastructure deficits,” he added.
“I thought I could help,” he said, adding that the lesson he has learned from the debacle is “trying to do the right thing doesn’t always work out”.
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