Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said that bonuses in the public service should not be acceptable.
Responding to revelations regarding bonuses to staff at the NTMA and NAMA, Mr Kenny said bonuses in the past had been paid out, but the Government had made its position on them clear.
He said many people are exceptionally well paid to do their jobs, but it was his belief that bonuses should not be acceptable.
Speaking on RTÉ's Prime Time, Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Pat Rabbitte said revelations about the level of extra payments to those at the NTMA and Bord Gáis were extravagant and excessive.
He reiterated that none of the chief executives of semi-States in his remit will get bonuses for 2010 or 2011.
Mr Kenny said the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan Howlin, was currently looking at the area of performance-related systems and he would bring forward his report in due course.
Earlier, Minister Howlin backed the disclosure of pay rates at the National Treasury Management Agency.
Mr Howlin also welcomed the decision of the agency's chief executive, John Corrigan, to waive a €240,000 bonus, which he said had been approved by the previous government.
Several senior executives at the agency waived significant bonuses for last year, but 84% of staff at the NTMA received bonuses worth €1.9m, it emerged yesterday.
Minister Howlin said he is anxious to have full transparency in relation to pay rates at the NTMA and NAMA, which are not covered by new €200,000 pay cap for all future appointments to senior public service posts.
In reply to a parliamentary question to the Minister for Finance from Fianna Fáil's Michael McGrath, it emerged that 14 staff at the NTMA are being paid over €250,000.
It has also been revealed that while nine senior executives waived bonuses worth over €900,000 for last year, 84% of NTMA staff received bonuses worth on average almost €7,700.
A spokesman for the NTMA said the payments were at a reduced rate.
Meanwhile, Deputy McGrath said he has requested that the chief executive of the NTMA appear before the Oireachtas Finance Committee to discuss the agency's salaries and bonuses.
