Civil servant ranking system ‘flawed’

The system for reviewing civil servants’ prospects of getting pay rises and promotions has been described as flawed by Fine Gael TDs after fewer than 1% of workers received a negative review.

The performance management and development system was last night declared “rubbish” by government TDs. It ranked the majority of civil servants as “exceeding the required standard”.

The system involves a sliding five-point scale used by managers to assess workers. It can then be used to decide on pay rises and promotions. Five is “outstanding, four “exceeds the required standard”, three is “fully acceptable”, two “needs improvement”, and one is “unacceptable”.