Following the recommendations of the review body on higher remuneration in the public sector in its report dated 25 September 2000, the Government decided to replace the then existing scheme in the Civil Service with a new scheme of performance-related awards and to introduce the new scheme in the Garda Síochána and the Defence Forces.
The new scheme applies to Civil Service posts at the levels of assistant secretary and deputy secretary, deputy commissioners and assistant commissioners in the Garda Síochána and major general and brigadier general in the Defence Forces. The scheme applied in the Civil Service with effect from 1 January 2002 and with effect from 1 May 2002 in the other areas. The funding of awards is based on 10% of the payroll for the posts covered by the scheme. Within this overall limit, payments of up to 20% can be made to individuals.
In accordance with the recommendations of the review body, a Committee for Performance Awards was established to oversee the operation of the scheme of performance-related awards. The members of the committee are Eddie Sullivan, chairperson, Secretary General, public service management and development, Department of Finance; Dermot McCarthy, Secretary General to the Government; Ann Fitzgerald, secretary general, Irish Association of Investment Managers; Maurice Keane, former Group Chief Executive, Bank of Ireland Group; and Tony O'Brien, Chairman, C&C Group PLC.
Decisions on performance-related awards for individual posts are made by the committee based on recommendations from Secretaries General in the case of the Civil Service, the Garda Commissioner or the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces. The recommendations made to the committee are based on assessments of performance against pre-set objectives.
The first awards under the scheme were made in 2003. The awards covered a 12 month period from 1 January 2002 in the case of the Civil Service grades and an eight month period from 1 May 2002 in the case of the other groups. The awards made in 2004 were in respect of the 12 month period from 1 January 2003 in all cases.
The cost of the awards approved by the Committee for Performance Awards amounted to approximately €2 million in 2003 and approximately €2.2 million in 2004. As already indicated, the awards in 2003 related to an eight month period only in the case of the ranks in the Garda Síochána and the Defence Forces. In the case of the Civil Service grades, where the awards related to a 12 month period, the average amount paid was in the region of €10,000. The highest award made in 2003 was approximately €20,500 and the lowest award was approximately €1,700. In 2004, the average amount paid in respect of all groups was in the region of €10,600, the highest award made was approximately €21,500 and the lowest award was approximately €2,000.
The numbers of people who participated in the scheme of performance-related awards were 213 in the case of the awards made in 2003 and 205 in the case of the awards made in 2004.
In 2003, some award was made to all persons who participated in the scheme. In 2004, one person who participated in the scheme did not receive an award. The scheme of performance-related awards and the guidelines approved by the Committee for Performance Awards allow discretion to give some award in situations where demanding targets have been narrowly missed.
I am satisfied procedures are in place to ensure that recommendations for awards are considered fully. As I have indicated, a Committee for Performance Awards has been established, as recommended by the review body on higher remuneration in the public sector, to oversee the awards scheme. The committee, which has a majority of members from the private sector, examines the recommendations of Secretaries General, the Garda Commissioner and the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces and decides on the award for each person covered by the scheme.
I might mention that the information sought by the Deputy, as well as other information relating to the scheme of performance-related awards, is contained in the annual reports of the Committee for Performance Awards. The report for 2003, covering awards made in 2004, is available on the website of my Department at www.finance.gov.ie.
