Report & Financial Statements for the Year ended 31st December ...

OVERVIEW
certain functions relating to asset covered securities issued
by financial institutions in Ireland.
The NTMA continues to be the only financial institution
under the direct control of the Government which is
outside the civil service. It operates with a commercial
remit and has the capability to recruit professional
personnel from the private sector at market rates. As such,
it has the capacity and flexibility to deal with a wide range
of financial issues on behalf of the State. The additional
functions devolved on the NTMA have enabled greater
utilisation to be made of its strong financial control, risk
management and transaction processing capabilities, its
integrated I.T. systems and its internal audit functions.
While its main reporting relationship is to the Minister
for Finance, it operates in conjunction with four boards
– the NTMA Advisory Committee, the National Pensions
Reserve Fund Commission, the State Claims Agency
Policy Committee and the National Development Finance
Agency Board – as well as two Audit Committees.
Relatively flat and flexible organisational arrangements
allied to performance driven remuneration packages
have enabled the NTMA to operate with a tight staff
complement – still under 100 – notwithstanding the
expanded range of responsibilities.
As the first debt office established in recent times,
the NTMA continues to be approached on a regular
basis by other countries seeking to emulate Ireland’s
success in improving its financial position. The NTMA’s
more recent responsibilities have attracted further
attention internationally.
We recognise that much of what is in this Report
is not easy reading. However, we do try each year
to improve its presentation and to set out in language
as user-friendly as possible the activities of the NTMA.
Much of the information is geared to potential investors
in Irish Government paper and to organisations
assessing the creditworthiness of the State. The web
site – www.NTMA.ie – gives additional information,
as does the Ireland Information Memorandum,
which we publish each March. The most up to date
annual reporting by the NTMA takes place each year
on New Year’s Eve in a comprehensive end of year
press statement.
Separate Annual Reports are published by the National
Pensions Reserve Fund Commission and by the National
Development Finance Agency.
Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2004
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