Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 315: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the number and grade of staff who qualified for performance-related pay prior to that payment being abolished in his Department; and the pay scales appropriate to those grades. [10585/10]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Scheme of Performance Related Pay Awards in the Civil Service applied to Deputy and Assistant Secretaries and equivalent grades. It did not apply to Secretaries General.

In 2008, a total of €656,000 was paid to officers in my Department 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.

The salary scales appropriate to the grades in question for the period covered by the 2008 payment are set out in the table below.

* A pay increase was applied with effect from 1 June 2007 under the Towards 2016 pay agreement

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. 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 further payments were made to staff in my Department under the Scheme prior to its suspension in 2009.

Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 316: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the number of posts unfilled in his Department because of the embargo on recruitment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10284/10]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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Since the introduction of the moratorium, a total of five vacancies have arisen in the Department, two at Assistant Principal level, two at Higher Executive Officer level, and one at Executive Officer level. One of the Assistant Principal posts has been part-filled by an officer returning from a career break on a work-sharing basis.

These vacancies would, in the absence of the moratorium, have been filled through the Central Applications Facility (CAF) under the decentralisation process, through the Public Appointments Service, Interdepartmental panels or through internal promotion. They would not have been advertised by the Department as it does not recruit directly.