Gerard Murphy
Question:131 Mr. Murphy asked the Minister for Finance the criteria which he has set for making performance pay awards in 2002 to certain senior civil servants. [14435/02]
Written Answers. - Performance Related Payments.
A new scheme of performance-related awards for per sons in the civil service at the levels of assistant secretary and deputy secretary was introduced by the Government on the basis of the recommendations made in Report No. 38 of the Review Body on Higher Remuneration in the Public Sector dated 25 September 2000. The new scheme was introduced with effect from 1 January 2002 and the first payments under the scheme will arise in January 2003. In general there is an overall cost limit on awards of 10% of the paybill for those participating in the scheme. However, within this overall limit individuals may receive awards of up to 20% of salary.
As recommended by the review body, a committee for performance awards, including persons from the private sector, has been established to monitor and adjudicate on the awards process. The committee will decide on the levels of awards for individuals based on recommendations from Secretaries General.
Under the awards scheme, Secretaries General assign assistant secretaries and deputy secretaries specific and demanding targets for the year ahead which should go beyond the normal ongoing requirements of their jobs. Decisions on awards will be based on an assessment of performance against those targets and there will be differentiation in the awards applicable to different levels of performance. Detailed guidelines on the operation of the scheme have been prepared by the committee for performance awards and I have arranged that my Department will send a copy of these to the Deputy.