Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 February 2026
525. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation the systems in place to agree performance metrics of Chief Executives of agencies within the aegis of his Department; the way in which these are measured; the person or body that carries out the assessment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11964/26]
View answerThe governance and oversight arrangements for bodies, agencies and offices under the aegis of my Department are according with the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies, related elements of the Public Financial Procedures, the Public Service Management Act 1997 and the National Shared Services Office Act 2017. As part of these arrangements, there are structured processes in place to agree upon and monitor thereafter performance expectations for Chief Executives, while ensuring alignment with each body’s statutory delegation, statement of strategy and annual cycle. It is important to note that the Chief Executive's of these bodies are the Accounting Officers and thus are directly accountable to the Oireachtas.
Under the Public Service Management Act 1997, Statements of Strategy are prepared by each Government Department, and bodies, agencies and offices that are under the aegis. This document sets out high-level goals, strategic priorities and forecasted outcomes over a three year period.
On an annual basis, and guided by the bodies’ Statement of Strategy, performance targets and outputs for Chief Executives and the body, office or agency as a whole, are established through Performance Delivery Agreements (PDAs), which are submitted, reviewed and approved by this Department. PDA's are organisational level agreements that set out high-level priorities, key outputs and indicators to be delivered over the year. Progress is monitored through bilateral governance meetings between officials in my Department and the relevant body, as well as through ongoing budget and performance discussions conducted through the Estimates and Revised Estimates process. Further monitoring of performance takes place through the Public Service Performance Report, which bodies under the aegis feed into annually, and are published on the Government website (www.gov.ie/en/department-of-public-expenditure-infrastructure-public-service-reform-and-digitalisation/collections/public-service-performance-reports/).
Accountability to the Oireachtas also forms part of the governance framework set out, including appearances before Committees and the consideration and approval of Votes by Dáil Éireann.
Concurrent to the oversight of my Department, Chief Executives report as appropriate to their respective Boards, in line with legislative obligations and corporate governance frameworks. With regard to the NSSO, this body has an Advisory Board established under statute. The Advisory Board provides strategic advice and guidance to the Chief Executive; however, it does not have a management or supervisory role over the CEO. Performance oversight and governance are instead carried out through the Department’s standard governance structures and formal reporting arrangements.
In the case of the Public Appointments Service (publicjobs), the Chief Executive is accountable to the Board in line with the Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Act 2004. As with other bodies under the aegis of my Department, the CEO’s performance expectations are addressed through the annual Performance Delivery Agreement and the regular governance engagements with this Department. While the CEO’s statutory functions are specific to PAS’s independent recruitment mandate, the oversight and performance framework applied is consistent with the arrangements in place for Chief Executives across the wider group of bodies under my Department’s remit.
The OPW is led at Secretary General level by the Chairman of the Office of Public Works. In accordance with the OPW Governance Framework, the performance of the Chairman is reviewed annually using the performance review process for Senior Public Service and the Performance Review Group (PRG) for officials at Secretary General Grade or equivalent.
Certain offices under my Department, such as the Office of the Ombudsman and the Office of the Regulator of the National Lottery are statutorily independent. In these cases, while my Department will allocate funding and conduct regular administrative engagements, it does not set or assess individual performance metrics for their statutory office holders, as their independence is set out in legislation.
