A former official with the National Asset Management Agency has pleaded guilty to eight counts of disclosing confidential information about the valuations of hundreds of properties, in the first case of its kind to come before the courts.

Enda Farrell, 40, with an address at La Reine, Avenue Louise Brussels, Belgium and formerly of Dunboyne, Co Meath has pleaded guilty to disclosing information confidential to NAMA by email in May, June and July 2012.

The information related to NAMA valuations of hundreds of properties.

It included properties in Germany, hotels in Ireland, and properties relating to Irish developers, including Paddy McKillen, the Harcourt/Pat Doherty Group and the O'Flynn Group.

The court heard Farrell sent the information to another business while he was working for NAMA to bypass the agency's email security system.

After he left NAMA, and was working for a UK property company, he then sent the confidential information to two investment companies.

Prosecuting lawyers told the Circuit Criminal Court that it was not part of the prosecution case that Farrell had advantaged himself by his actions or that his actions compromised NAMA's ability to do its business.

Defence lawyers told the court Farrell had given an extraordinary level of cooperation to gardaí and had indicated his intention to plead guilty from a very early stage.

Senior counsel Michael Bowman said Farrell had lost everything through his actions. He compromised his entire career, his capacity to earn a living and was stripped of his only asset.

He was financially destitute when he left Ireland for Belgium.

Mr Bowman said Farrell's capacity to earn a living was damaged forever. He is now the main carer for his three very young children, while his wife works. She described him in a statement to the court as a "broken man".

Farrell will be sentenced on 12 May.