The performance targets for the civil service to satisfy the payment of salary increases under benchmarking and the latest national pay deal are to be published, the Government said today.
Each Government department has submitted a plan to a civil service verification group containing performance targets agreed under the latest national agreement, Sustaining Progress.
The targets will be set and assessed by the verification group to ensure that the conditions for payment of the final two phases of benchmarking and the general pay increases have been met.
Government departments will be assessed for improvements in areas such as customer service, efficient use of resources, better regulation, and performance-management systems.
The benchmarking process - which will cost over €1 billion annually if fully implemented - has come under intense criticism since its inception under the PPF national deal. The workings of the body are still shrouded in secrecy as the Government decided to keep the research conducted by the body from public scrutiny by exempting it from the Freedom of Information Act.
The Department of Finance has agreed to make this material available to the public on its website: www.finance.gov.ie