Paul McGrath (Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I wish to share time with Deputy Ring.

The review body on higher remuneration in the public sector in its report No. 38 of September 2000 considered that performance related awards for managers and assistant managers of local authorities were appropriate. The situation evolved so that managers of local authorities made submissions to a committee for performance awards in the local government sector under the chairmanship of the Secretary General of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. The procedure is that the county manager makes a submission setting out his or her goals for the upcoming year and it is approved by the committee. At the end of the year, the manager reports back saying how well he or she did. It costs local authorities a total of €2.1 million annually, which must be paid out of their budgets. The average payment to the recipients is €10,000 per annum.

While I welcome this good initiative, nobody outside the committee can access the submissions to establish what they contain or the performance, tasks and so on undertaken by the county managers. How can we have a realistic idea of whether they earn the awards? One cannot acquire the documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1997. I raised this with the Taoiseach at a meeting of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance and the Public Service. He was astonished and said I should get the documentation. He said he would see to it but nothing happened. One cannot even get a glimpse of these submissions.

The original terms of reference of the scheme stated local authority chairman should be given a copy of the submissions or at least a synopsis of them but this has been rowed back on. Additional moneys are awarded to senior local authority staff by the committee, which does not visit local authorities to speak to the chairman, members or staff. It is done entirely on a paper assessment. It is incorrect that this documentation should not be available. While I do not want to know who earns how much, I want to know the goals that are set, how they are assessed and what scrutiny is in place to ensure the assessment takes place.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I support my colleague on this issue which has bothered me for a long time. I have also tried to get this information. It is wrong that civil servants protect other civil servants. Why should the Freedom of Information Act cover Oireachtas Members, including Ministers, while senior public servants, including county managers, assistant county managers and directors of services are protected under the Act? Why should the taxpayer not know what these people are being paid for and why they receive these bonuses? Why should these people tell us how great they are? For example, the local authority in my county got rid of the refuse service and the mobile libraries this year. Are senior staff being given bonuses to take away services from the people?

The taxpayers of County Mayo and everywhere else are entitled to this information. They should know why these staff receive the bonuses, the amount of the bonuses and where the money comes from. The awards are funded by the taxpayer and local authority members should discuss these awards every year. A report should be brought before them and it should be listed on the agenda for discussion to see if the officials are entitled to a bonus. It is wrong that they are being protected by the Government and the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and it is wrong that legislation was passed which provides for the protection of these people.

We cannot have two laws in this country. This is not Russia. We knew members of the establishment in Russia looked after one another but this is supposed to be a democracy. If information about Oireachtas Members can be published by every daily newspaper, the local newspapers should know how much county managers and directors of services receive in bonuses, especially when the people pay for them. They should at least know how much is being paid.

How can I obtain this information? When I table parliamentary questions, I do not want to be told to go to the Oireachtas Library. If the Minister of State's Department continues to issue such replies, I will make the staff busy because I will table many parliamentary questions and make many freedom of information requests. I am warning the Minister of State and his Department that if they want to play that game, I can play it too.

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank both Deputies for raising this important issue. A scheme for performance related awards for the local authority sector for managers, assistant managers and directors of services was introduced in 2003 following the recommendation of the review body on higher remuneration in the public sector in its report of 25 September 2000. The review body recommended that a committee for performance awards be established to monitor and adjudicate on the performance awards process in the local government sector. The committee comprises the Secretary General of the Department, two senior local authority managers and two members from the private sector.

Paul McGrath (Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Keep it within the house.

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The committee's mandate is to make an independent determination of awards in accordance with the scheme formulated by the Department with the approval of the Department of Finance and which is consistent with principles recommended by report No. 38 of the review body. Under the scheme, participants prepare a statement of objectives at the beginning of the year and a self-assessment of performance at the end of the year. These objectives and assessments are subject to approval by the committee for performance awards which also makes the final determination of the amounts of awards.

The committee's reports for 2003 and 2004 are available in the Oireachtas Library. The reports contain details of the background of the scheme, including the setting of objectives, assessment of performance and the approved range of awards available under the scheme. The reports also include details of the distribution of awards as a percentage of pay, the range of monetary value of awards and the number of recipients. The report for 2005 will not be available until the second quarter of the year and I understand that the committee is considering including in that report details of total awards by local authorities.

Paul McGrath (Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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The committee did not outline the objectives.

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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In the two years covered by the reports, awards to county and city managers ranged between 8% and 12% with an average award of 10.12%.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Not bad.

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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In the case of grades other than manager, awards ranged between 4% and 15% with an average award of 9.9%. The maximum award of 20% was not made in any case. The average annual cost of the awards so far has been approximately €2.1 million across the local government sector.

The annual reports clearly set out relevant details of the scheme with the main exception of details concerning individuals. In a request for details concerning individuals in the comparable civil service scheme, the Information Commissioner decided on appeal that information on individuals constituted "personal records" in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 1997.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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He was a former civil servant.

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The commissioner in the decision stated that public servants, as with all employees, are entitled to a degree of privacy——

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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But not Deputies or Ministers.

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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——in the evaluation of their work performance, competence or ability and found that this type of information is held by public bodies on the understanding that it would be treated by them as confidential. The commissioner found that, on balance, the public interest in protecting the right to privacy outweighed the public interest that the information be granted.

The operation of schemes of performance awards for senior public servants have in the past been reviewed by the review body on higher remuneration. That body has been activated again to review the remuneration of a wide range of senior public servants and has recently invited submissions by any person or organisation in connection with its review. It is, therefore, open to the Deputies to consider making a submission to the review body on any aspect of the current local government performance scheme.

Paul McGrath (Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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That is a kick for touch.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Does the Minister of State think the body will listen to us?

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I have no doubt both Deputies will take the opportunity to make such a submission.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Like all the civil servants, the Minister of State will protect the civil servants.