Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 161: To ask the Minister for Finance the number and grade of staff who qualified for performance related pay prior to that payment being abolished in each Government Department; and the pay scales appropriate to those grades. [10014/10]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I presume that the Deputy is referring to the scheme which, in the civil service, applied at the levels of Deputy and Assistant Secretary. The scheme of awards was based on performance by reference to demanding targets. The pool for performance awards was 10% of the pay bill in the relevant year for the group concerned. Within that overall limit individuals could receive payments of up to 20% of pay.

Decisions on awards were made by the Committee for Performance Awards (CPA), which included a majority of private sector members. The main roles of the committee were to monitor the application of the scheme of performance-related awards and to bring independent judgement to bear in approving objectives for the persons covered by the scheme and in approving recommendations for awards.

Details of the procedures, the numbers covered by the schemes, the range of awards and the total amounts paid in Departments - including the Department of Finance - are outlined in the annual reports of the committee. The Committee's Annual Reports 2006-2008 covering the operation of the scheme in 2005-2007, are available on the Department of Finance website www.finance.gov.ie. Not all persons who were eligible to participate in the awards chose to do so.

As the Deputy may be aware, on 5 February 2009, I announced in the Dáil the discontinuation of the scheme for Assistant Secretaries, Deputy Secretary and related grades subject to consultation with the relevant Staff Associations. Therefore no assessments or payments have been made in respect of performances in 2008.

The payscales for the grades involved in this Department are as follows (1 January 2010 rates):

Assistant Secretary/Commissioner of Valuation/ Chief Executive of Public Appointments Service €127,796, €133,605, €139,898, €146,191;

Assistant Secretary PPC/Commissioner of Valuation PPC/ Chief Executive of Public Appointments Service PPC €134,523, €140,636, €147,262, €153,885;

Chief Medical Officer €168,000;

Chief Medical Officer PPC €176,800.