Retired teachers underpaid €2 million in pensions

HUNDREDS of retired teachers and their dependants were underpaid around €2 million because of miscalculated pension entitlements by the Department of Education.

The department’s pension unit discovered in April 2004 that the terms of a 1987 agreement with teacher unions for pension schemes affecting teachers who retired on ill health grounds or died in service had not been implemented, leading to pensioners and their spouses being paid less than their full benefits.This came to the attention of Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) John Purcell during a 2005 audit of the department and he asked its secretary general Brigid McManus to outline the circumstances.

In his annual report published yesterday, Mr Purcell said he was told that internal correspondence on interpretation of the agreement took place in October 1988. But when the pensions section moved to Athlone in 1991, the matter remained unclarified and was overlooked following extensive staff changes at that time.

When it came to the department’s attention two years ago, officials reviewed all ill-health retirement cases and cases of teachers who died in service since 1987 and 655 awards were revised.

Payments of €1.65 million were made in respect of 428 of those cases last year, averaging €more than 3,800 each, and 85 payments amounting to €98,000 have been made so far this year. But the original estimated €2.2 million cost of rectifying the mistakes might be more than the total paid out when the remaining 142 cases are finalised.