Reward Strategy For Senior Civil Servants To Be Reviewed

Nigel Dodds, Northern Ireland's Finance Minister, is to develop an independent commission to review pays and bonuses for senior civil servants in Northern Ireland.

The initiative follows an evaluation of the reward strategy for senior civil servants in the rest of the United Kingdom

Last year bonuses for senior civil servants totalled £1.2 million.

Dodds said that there has been "a great deal of public comment over recent months about public sector pay generally".

For example, a payment of more than £157,000 was shared last year by 19 senior staff in the Office of the First and Deputy First Ministers, while about £161,000 was shared by 20 senior civil servants in the Department of Health.

"I will want the review to look at comparisons with pay and reward systems for similar jobs in the public sector, as well as in the private sector," said Dodds.

Minister said that the concern about public and private sector pay is "inevitable against the background of the difficult economic climate and the position of other employees, particularly in the private sector".

He added that "now is the right time for the devolved administration in Northern Ireland to conduct its own independent review of future pay arrangements for its senior civil servants."

(AC/JM)