No scrutiny of benchmarking value

The bodies charged with ensuring that taxpayers get good value for money from benchmarking will not be subject to the Freedom of Information Act.

This means that the public will be unable to access their research or conclusions unless they become available, through correspondence, under another Government body .

The transparency of the €1 billion-plus benchmarking process has already drawn significant criticism, with detractors arguing that the research behind it should be made available for public analysis.

As yet, this research, which cost €2 million to produce, has remained unpublished. The latest national wage agreement, Sustaining Progress, dictates that 75 per cent of the awards agreed under benchmarking should be linked to productivity improvements within the public service.

It requires that five "performance verification groups" be established to monitor the link between higher wages for public servants and an improved service for taxpayers.

The committees are required to make an assessment of progress at least one month before each of the payment dates linked to benchmarking.

The next date comes at the start of January next year, when 50 per cent of the benchmarking increase is due to be paid.

The chairs of the five committees, which have not all been fully formed, met for the first time on June 20th in the Department of the Taoiseach.

The agreement requires that, in each case, the chairperson should be independent.

The health sector committee is chaired by Ms Maureen Lynott, who was also a member of the benchmarking body and is director of the National Treatment Purchase Fund.

Ms Lynott has, in the past, worked with Bupa and the VHI.

Mr Arthur Coldrick, of partnership consultants AC Network, is chair of the Environment and Local Government Group, while Ms Olive Braiden of the Crisis Pregnancy Agency will head the Justice group.

Prof Seamus McGuinness, formerly of Trinity College, is the independent chair of the Education committee, while AIB economist Mr Donal de Buitléir is chairing the civil service group.

At their first meeting, the chairs discussed the development of a consistent approach across each sector of the public service. It was agreed they would deal with the issue in more depth at a meeting in the first half of this month.

The committees will vary in size, with both the education and health bodies having 10 members, while the remainder will have seven members. The remaining members should be split evenly between public-sector management, unions and the independent private sector.