The scheme paid out bonuses of up to 20,000 each last year to more than 200 officials who are assistant secretaries of government departments, assistant garda commissioners, and major generals and brigadier generals in the defence forces.

The aim of the scheme, established by former finance minister, Charlie McCreevy in 2000, is to reward senior public servants for exceptional performance in their job.

While the overall award is capped at 10% of the payroll costs of the particular group, individuals can get from 0% to 20% of their pay depending on performance against set objectives.

Last year, nobody got the maximum 20% award, and just three got over 20,000.

The average award was 11,700 with the majority receiving 11,000 to 13,000.

The bonuses are paid on top of national pay increases and in addition to the special increases paid out every four years to senior public servants.

In a strong attack on the scheme, the Committee for Performance Awards, which oversees the controversial scheme, said that there were "some doubts about the overall effectiveness of the scheme". These doubts centred on the fact that, by pursuing the stretched performance objectives in order to maximise the bonus, senior staff were not focusing on the core aspects of their job.

"It would be a matter of grave concern if the scheme was not being used as a mechanism to encourage managers at the most senior levels to focus on the key priorities for their area, " said the committee, headed up by Eddie O'Sullivan, secretary general in the Department of Finance, and Dermot McCarthy, secretary-general in the Department of the Taoiseach.

The committee also criticised the fact that almost onethird of the government departments had submitted the agreed objectives two months late.

"The committee considers it to be unacceptable that objectives for a particular year should be set only when a significant part of the year has already elapsed, " it said.