SNAs are victims of payroll problems at Department of Education

More than 800 special needs assistants (SNAs) were paid at least five days late last week because of another payroll problem at the Department of Education.

The glitch meant substitute SNAs who were due to be paid last Thursday week did not receive their payments. Instead, the department had to make advances last week, with any outstanding amounts to be paid on March 12, a month after the error happened.

The mistake follows the issuing over the last fortnight of delayed salary increases, and two months’ arrears, to over 25,000 teachers and SNAs on the payroll. They were due to have received their increments in December, delayed by three months already as a condition of the 2013 Haddington Road Agreement (HRA) for public servants earning under €65,000. But software problems in the payroll system meant that SNAs and teachers were not paid their increases, and backpay of up to several hundred euro each, until February 12 or 19.