Retired civil servants overpaid by €70,000

OVERPAYMENTS of almost €70,000 were made in error to 18 retired civil servants for annual leave entitlements they did not take during their careers.

The overpayments were uncovered after the Department of Finance ordered a review in 30 government departments last July.

It had been notified by the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) John Purcell after his discovery of payments being made for untaken leave above what was allowed. In Department of Finance rules, leave can not be carried over for more than three years.

The matter came to light when it emerged that a top official in the Department of Education was paid €53,664 more than he should have received for untaken leave dating back to 1994, when he retired last year. He was unaware of the mistake and offered to repay the money when it was brought to his attention.

A further 16 cases totalling overpayments of €69,000 were subsequently discovered in the same department.

Of the 28 departments and other Government offices which have so far replied to the Department of Finance, eight reported payments in excess of the carryover rules, amounting to almost €70,000.

A spokesperson said the information needs to be treated with caution, as some of it relates to officers who had been on extended sick-leave before retiring, which may have been on health grounds.

“The position in relation to some cases is still being clarified, so it can not be said definitely how much of the total payments were actually inconsistent with the rules,” he said.

“The implementation of the annual leave circulars is a matter for departments and offices,” the spokesperson added.

The Department of Finance was told about the situation in the Department of Education on July 3 and officials contacted personnel offices in 30 other departments later that week. They were asked to ensure they were applying the carry-over rules correctly, review their files to identify any cases where the rules had not been properly applied and to rectify the matter.

Senior Department of Education officials will face questions from the Dáil Public Accounts Committee tomorrow in relation to issues raised by the C&AG about the department in his 2005 annual report published last month, including the overpayments to retired civil servants. The report also highlighted the underpayment of up to €2.2 million in pensions for 655 teachers who died in service or retired since 1987.