Public and civil servants’ overtime bill tops €440m

OVERTIME for public and civil servants made up €441 million of the €1.2bn cost of extra pay and allowances by Government departments and agencies in 2007.

A Health Service Executive (HSE) employee was paid €170,426 in that year for being on call, one of five people paid more than €60,000 in overtime and other allowances. More than a dozen others received payments of at least €25,000 in addition to their salaries.

The figures in the Comp-troller and Auditor General’s 2007 Audited Appropriation Accounts reveal 60% of the total payments were made by the HSE who paid nearly 34,000 doctors, nurses and support staff nearly €220m in overtime out of a €711m bill for extra remuneration.