Pensioners hit with demand to return overpayments worth thousands of euro

Education Minister Norma Foley said 'pensioners are given a number of options to repay the overpayment and measures are in placed to ensure there is not an undue financial hardship as a result of the repayment plan'. Picture: Leah Farrell /  RollingNews.ie

Pensioners have been hit with demands from the Department of Education for the return of overpayments of pension entitlements worth thousands of euro.

The department said it had identified a “small number of cases” that received an overpayment and has written to the recipients telling them they will need to enter a repayment plan.

In one case, a retiree was contacted to repay about €8,238, according to a document seen by the Irish Examiner.

The overpayments seem to have occurred because of an administration error in the Department of Education’s pension unit and have affected 59 retirees.

In January 2011, the Public Service Pension Reduction legislation came into effect as part of a former government programme of financial emergency measures following the crash in 2008.

“In general, if an individual was in receipt of more than one public service pension, greater than €32,500, the reduction was calculated based on the combined amount of the two pensions and reduced accordingly,” a Department of Education spokesperson said.

The reduction was in place for just over a decade until it ceased in 2021. However, analysis of departmental records found some pension accounts where the reduction was not fully administered, which led to overpayments.

The retirees affected are in receipt of two pensions, with an average combined gross annual pension ranging between €32,000 and €77,000. The individual net overpayments range between €1,500 and €12,500, said the spokesperson.

The Irish Examiner understands 35 affected individuals have either repaid in full or have agreed repayment amounts. The outstanding overpayment amount currently stands at €387,000 net.

'Unexpected and concerning'

In a letter to one of the people affected, the department said it “understands” this information was “unexpected and concerning”.

“We are committed to collaborating closely with you to ensure that any repayment plan we agree is both feasible and manageable,” the letter read.

Fine Gael TD Richard Bruton highlighted the issue during parliamentary questions and asked Education Minister Norma Foley if her attention had been drawn to the “error in the calculation” in pensions for some teachers who had pensions from combined elements of service.

He also asked if she would consider “since the errors were not made by the pensioners concerned, these historic outstanding amounts should be waived".

Ms Foley said she was aware of the matter and “pensioners are given a number of options to repay the overpayment and measures are in placed to ensure there is not an undue financial hardship as a result of the repayment plan".

Meanwhile, figures from the Central Statistics Office showed the number of people of retirement age, 65 and up, re-entering the workforce has steadily increased throughout the year, indicating costs continue to bite for the elderly in an environment of elevated inflation and high interest rates.