Overpaid teachers must pay back thousands of euro

MORE than 200 teachers are being forced to pay back thousands of euro a year to the State because they were overpaid.

The Department of Education has recouped €707,000 this year alone from 202 people on its payroll. This equates to an average repayment of €3,500 for the first 10 months, or about €4,200 for a full year.

Most of those affected are from among almost 40,000 primary and second level teachers whose salaries and wages are notified by schools to the department fortnightly or once a month. The annual wage bill for the group affected, also including clerical staff, special needs assistants, caretakers and retired teachers, is almost €3 billion.