Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 February 2009
381 Deputy Damien English asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the cost of bonus payments made to staff in his Department for 2008; the amount set aside in his Department for bonus payments in 2009; if he will make a statement on the circumstances where a staff bonus will be paid in 2009. [4832/09]
View answerDuring 2008, the Department of Foreign Affairs implemented the following schemes involving awards to staff: the Scheme of Performance Related Pay Awards and the Exceptional Performance Awards Scheme.
Scheme of Performance Related Pay Awards
The Scheme of Performance Related Pay Awards in the Civil Service applies to Deputy and Assistant Secretaries and equivalent grades. It does not apply to Secretaries General.
In 2008, a total of €656,000 was paid under this scheme. The payments made related to the performance of 48 officers during the preceding calendar year. These payments were subject to tax and PRSI. The awards were made by the Committee for Performance Awards, chaired by the Secretary General for Public Service Management and Development in the Department of Finance, following recommendations by the Secretary General of the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Details of the operation of the Performance Related Pay Awards scheme are available in the annual reports of the Committee for Performance Awards. The Committee's April 2008 report can be accessed on the website of the Department of Finance at the following link: http://www.finance.gov.ie/documents/publications/reports/2008/cpareport07final.pdf No payments have been made in 2009 in respect of performance in 2008.
Exceptional Performance Awards
Under the Department of Foreign Affairs' Administrative Budget Agreement with the Department of Finance, a fund amounting to 0.2% of the Department's salaries budget has been made available each year to the Secretary General in respect of ex-gratia payments or other awards to individual staff members or groups of staff, by way of recognition of exceptional performance of duty.
In 2008, a total of €156,500 was paid to 309 staff under this scheme, which is administered by a sub-group of the Department's Partnership Committee. The sub-group assesses nominations for merit awards and makes recommendations to the Secretary General of the Department. The objective of the scheme is to reward cases of genuinely exceptional performance by officers in grades up to and including Counsellor/Principal Officer level.
The Exceptional Performance fund also provides for officers in the Department with at least 25 years' experience to receive an award in recognition of their long service. This award comprises a gift of €250 along with a special commemorative coin. In 2008, a total of €18,840 was spent in providing such Long Service Awards to 66 officers.
No decision has yet been taken on the payment of Exceptional Performance Awards or Long Service Awards in 2009.
