Lucinda Creighton’s party wants to introduce a performance-related pay structure across the public service, including high-ranking civil servants, politicians, and teachers.

Those who do not reach their targets on a regular basis could be sacked as part of the Renua proposals.

Ms Creighton said: “We said that serially underperforming employees across the public service should not be immune to losing their job if they are not up to the job.”

She said politicians’ pay “should be linked to outcomes, not just in terms of growth in the economy but also in terms of quality of life for citizens”.

“I think linking politicians pay to those sorts of outcomes, not just growth but competitiveness, education outcomes, and health outcomes right across the public service, those responsibilities ultimately fall on the shoulders of politicians — their pay should generally be linked to that,” said Ms Creighton.

“We would contend that continuing with the system where people are simply paid on the basis of longevity rather than on the basis of performance and striving constantly for the delivery of excellence in the public service is wrong. We believe in ensuring that we have the highest possible standards right across the public service, we believe that people that work hard, who go above and beyond the call of duty should be rewarded and should have it reflected in their pay packet and equally those who underperform should not be treated and paid in the same way.”

Asked if the proposals would mean a return to bonuses, she said: “You can call it whatever you want but we believe in merit, we believe in rewarding merit.” She said there are people who are “demoralised” because there is no difference between them and a person who continually underperforms.

Ms Creighton said teachers should also be included: “It happens across the world and this is the new system of management within public service delivery which happens right across the globe, and we have to be able to distinguish between those who excel and those who don’t, whether that’s in the education system — after all, this is about our children, it’s about the future of the nation, and we can’t tolerate underperformance any longer.”

Asked whether public sector unions would accept the proposals, she said: “Who is running the country — is it the citizens, is it the people that they elect, or is it unaccountable trade unions?”