About the NTMA
The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) is a State body which operates with a commercial remit to provide asset and liability management services to Government. Businesses managed by the NTMA include borrowing for the Exchequer and management of the National Debt, the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF), the National Development Finance Agency (NDFA), NewERA and the State Claims Agency (SCA).
Funding and Debt Management
The NTMA is responsible for borrowing on behalf of the Government and managing the National Debt in order to ensure liquidity for the Exchequer and to minimise the interest burden over the medium term.
Ireland Strategic Investment Fund
The NTMA controls and manages the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF), which was established in December 2014 with a statutory mandate to invest on a commercial basis in a manner designed to support economic activity and employment in the State. The ISIF is the successor to the National Pensions Reserve Fund (NPRF) controlled by the NPRF Commission. The assets of the NPRF –which is being dissolved – become assets of the ISIF.
National Development Finance Agency
Acting as the National Development Finance Agency, the NTMA is the statutory financial advisor to State authorities in respect of all public investment projects with a capital value over €20 million. It also has full responsibility for the procurement and delivery of Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects in sectors other than transport and the local authorities.
NewERA
Acting as NewERA, the NTMA provides a dedicated centre of corporate finance expertise to Government, in particular in relation to commercial oversight of certain State bodies. It provides financial and commercial advisory services to Government ministers including in relation to financial performance, corporate strategy, capital and investment plans, proposed acquisitions or disposals, restructuring and board appointments. In addition, NewERA may, in consultation with the relevant Minister, develop proposals for investment in the energy, water, telecommunications and forestry sectors to support economic activity and employment.
State Claims Agency
Acting as the State Claims Agency, the NTMA manages personal injury, property damage and clinical negligence claims brought against 129 State authorities, including the State itself, Government ministers, the Attorney General, the Health Service Executive, the voluntary healthcare sector, An Garda Síochána, the Irish Prison Service, the Defence Forces and community and comprehensive schools. It also has a risk management role, advising and assisting State authorities in minimising their claim exposures. In addition, it deals with third-party costs arising from certain Tribunals of Inquiry.
In addition to the above functions, the NTMA assigns staff to the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) and the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) and also provides them with business and support services and systems. Both NAMA and the SBCI have their own separate boards.
Further information on the NTMA is available at ntma.ie
NTMA Governance Changes
There were significant changes in the NTMA’s governance structure and statutory remit in 2014. Previously, the NTMA did not have a board structure and the Chief Executive reported directly to the Minister for Finance on the NTMA’s funding and debt management, State Claims Agency and NewERA functions. The NTMA’s governing legislation also provided for an Advisory Committee and a State Claims Agency Policy Committee. The NPRF Commission, NDFA and NAMA were established as statutory bodies under their own governing legislation. The SBCI was established in September 2014 as a private limited company in order to perform certain statutory functions. Each of these bodies had its own board. The NTMA acted as the executive in respect of the NPRF Commission and the NDFA. It assigns staff to NAMA and the SBCI and also provides them with business and support services and systems.
The National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Act 2014 streamlined and simplified the NTMA’s governance structures to enable a more integrated approach to the performance of its functions.
In December 2014 the NTMA was reconstituted as an Agency with a Chairperson and eight other members with over-arching responsibility for all of the NTMA’s functions (excluding NAMA and the SBCI which will continue to have their own separate boards). The Advisory Committee and State Claims Agency Policy Committee were dissolved in December 2014 and the NDFA was dissolved in January 2015. The NPRF Commission was reduced to one commissioner pending the transfer of all of the NPRF’s assets to the ISIF following which the NPRF Commission too will be dissolved. The Act also provided for: the putting of the NTMA’s NewERA functions on a statutory basis; the establishment of the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund with a mandate to invest on a commercial basis in a manner designed to support economic activity and employment in Ireland and the transfer of the NPRF’s assets to the ISIF; the putting of the State Claims Agency’s legal costs function on a statutory basis; and the transfer of the NDFA’s functions to the NTMA.