Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 308: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the bonus or merit payments awarded to senior officials and staff each year since 2000, detailing the management and staff category; the purpose and the amount of the award and the highest award made and to whom. [28388/05]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I, personally, do not have any hand, act or part in the process or decision in the above-mentioned matter. This is a matter for the accounting officer of my Department.

Two schemes involving annual performance-related pay and biannual merit awards are in operation in the Department of Foreign Affairs. These are the scheme of performance-related pay awards for officers at the level of deputy secretary and assistant secretary, and the merit awards scheme, the details of which are outlined below and in the table which follows.

A number of once-off merit awards have also been granted during this period. A recent case involved the recognition of exceptional levels of extra attendance by officers in non-overtime grades in the lead-up to and during Ireland's Presidency of the EU in the first half of 2004. Another, in 2002, related to Ireland's membership of the UN Security Council in 2001 and 2002. Details of such once-off expenditure are also given in the table. With some exceptions, for example, where gift vouchers below a certain value threshold rather than money are given, statutory deductions, including income tax, are made in the normal way.

Regarding scheme of performance-related pay awards for officers at the level of deputy secretary and assistant secretary, Civil Service posts at the levels of assistant secretary and deputy secretary have been, since 2002, covered by a scheme of performance related awards. The operation of the scheme is overseen by the committee for performance awards. The funding for 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. Details of the procedures, the numbers covered by the scheme, the range of awards and the total amounts paid in Departments are outlined in the annual reports of the committee, which are available on the website www.finance.gov.ie.

The committee does not identify the amount paid to individuals as this is regarded as personal information. Prior to the introduction of the revised scheme in 2002 there was a scheme for assistant secretaries which was based on 4% of the pay bill for the assistant secretary grade. Details of the payments under this scheme are also included in the table for the relevant period.

Regarding the merit awards scheme, under the Department's administrative budget agreement with the Department of Finance, a fund amounting to 0.2% of the Department's salaries budget is 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. This scheme is administered by a sub-group of the Department's partnership committee, which assesses nominations for merit awards and makes recommendations to the Secretary General. 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. Particular attention is paid by the sub-group to the grades of nominees and to the nature and quality of the activities described in the written nominations.

Details of all performance-related pay and merit awards made in the period 2000 to 2005 to date are given in the table below. I am of the view that it would be inappropriate to publicise the names of the recipients of the highest awards. I have, however, indicated the grades of the officers concerned.