Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 399: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the performance objectives set out in respect of posts in which bonuses in her Department are paid; the way the performance is measured; and the way the performance related to the targets set. [27263/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Guidelines on the scheme of performance-related awards for posts at Assistant Secretary level are set out in the Appendix to the Report of the Committee for Performance Awards (CPA) which can be accessed on the website of the Department of Finance at the following link: http://www.finance.gov.ie/documents/ publications/ reports/CPArep2006.pdf

The CPA comprises a Secretary General in the Department of Finance, the Secretary General to the Taoiseach and three other members who are not civil servants. Its role is to ensure that there is adherence to overall guidelines, that objectives are clear and that there is consistency across departments in the approach adopted.

The objectives agreed between Secretaries General and Assistant Secretaries must be submitted to the CPA and may be questioned by the CPA. At the end of each review period, the recommendations by Secretaries General on the payment of awards must be approved by the CPA. The report of the CPA does not set out detail of the performance objectives agreed.

The performance objectives under this scheme are agreed for each of a small group of individuals who are identified with specific functional areas of work. Inevitably the agreed objectives for any one of these individuals will include objectives relating to his/her functional area of work, allowing each individual to be identified with specific objectives. The detail requested by the Deputy cannot be provided, without providing personal information.