Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Question 92: To ask the Minister for Finance the number of civil servants including semi-State employees and nationalised banks that receive bonuses as part of their pay agreement for the years 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010; if these bonuses are related to performance; his plans to review the use of bonuses as incentives for production; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12919/11]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The Committee for Performance Awards was established in November 2001 to oversee the operation of schemes for performance awards for certain grades within the civil service, the Garda Síochána and the Defence Forces. The first awards under the scheme of performance-related awards were made in 2003 in respect of 2002. Subsequent awards were made annually thereafter up to 2008 in respect of performance in 2007. On 5 February 2009 the Minister for Finance announced in the Dail the discontinuation of the scheme for Assistant Secretaries, Deputy Secretary and related grades. No awards have been made under the scheme in respect of performance in 2008 to date. The Committee was stood down in January 2010.

In 2007 a total of 205 individuals received awards under this scheme in respect of 2006, while 221 received awards in 2008 in respect of 2007. While the introduction of performance related schemes in the commercial and non-commercial State sponsored bodies sector require the approval of the Minister for Finance, once such approval has been given, the operation of such schemes is a matter for the relevant Boards and parent Departments. In this context, comprehensive data on annual performance related payments in the commercial and non-commercial State sponsored bodies sector is not held in my Department but may be sought from the parent Departments concerned. All such schemes are predicated on the achievement of stretched targets – i.e. payments under such schemes are not to be seen as an automatic addition to basic pay.

It is to be noted that in the context of Non Commercial State Sponsored Bodies, Secretaries General of Government Departments were advised in 2009 that in current circumstances, but while appreciating that contractual issues may be involved, it would be appropriate that consideration of any bonus payments should be suspended. Secretaries General were asked to convey this position to the bodies under the aegis of their Departments. A similar letter issued earlier this year in respect of performance payments in Commercial State Companies. Details of any performance awards made to CEOs of Commercial State Companies will be outlined in the relevant Annual Reports.

While not encompassing the Commercial State Companies, it is to be noted that the Review Body on Higher Remuneration in the Public Sector (Report No 44: September 2009) stated that the Review Group remained committed to the concept of performance schemes for the higher management grades in the public service but, in recognition of the very serious state of the public finances, recommended that such payments be suspended until 2012 when they should be reviewed again.

As far as credit institutions are concerned, I do not have the information requested by the Deputy in the form he requested. I will write to the Deputy shortly on this. However, the Deputy may wish to note in relation to the matter of remuneration at the covered institutions (including Anglo Irish Bank) that the NTMA have recently, on behalf of my Department, requested the CEOs of each of the covered institutions to review remuneration policy and practices in their institutions. The institutions have also been asked to consider measures that could be undertaken to align staff expectations with regard to benefits/remuneration to the changed economic environment and the financial circumstances of the banks.