Money owed by civil servants to State after pensions error to be ‘fully recouped'
Almost all government ministers and junior ministers owe money to the State due to errors in pension payments.
They will be informed in the coming days of the sums to be repaid, ranging from as low as €100 up to €30,000.
Although the ministers and other civil servants involved were not at fault in relation to the errors identified in the National Shared Services Office (NSSO), Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers said he will ensure 'all monies owed to the State are fully recouped'.
In some cases, ministers may be owed money due to the administrative errors.
The full scale of the issues, relating to payroll and pensions, and the number impacted is still being assessed.
The Cabinet was briefed on the administrative errors in the state HR agency yesterday.
One issue relates to a retired senior civil servant who owes €280,000 to the State because their pension was undertaxed, it has been revealed. The retiree is among up to 13,000 retired civil servants and government ministers currently being assessed.
Meanwhile, Sinn Féin's Pearse Doherty said there are 'serious questions' over the oversight of the agency 'responsible for putting taxpayers' money into the pockets of very highly paid, with golden pensions, senior civil servants – money they were never entitled to in the first place.'
It is understood the NSSO will undertake an 'engagement process' to reach an arrangement with the individual in order to recoup the payment.
There are three cohorts impacted by these errors: current and former ministers and office holders; civil service retirees with work-sharing patterns; and retired senior civil servants.
Mr Chambers said the errors span different time periods and have been detected in various ways.
One issue relates to the incorrect application of pension deductions for most members of the current Government, ministers of state, some members of previous governments and recent office holders.
The amounts involved range from hundreds of euro to the low €30,000s in terms of monies to be recouped.
In addition, a number of ministers are due refunds ranging from hundreds of euro to the low €20,000s. Some are unaffected.
Another issue relates to 30 cases involving the administration of Chargeable Excess Tax, a tax on pension funds, and Withholding Tax, which is deducted from retirement lump sums, in relation to senior grade civil service pensioners.
'The liabilities for this cohort range from a few hundred euro to €280,000,' Mr Chambers said.
Another issue relates to the miscalculation and under-payment of pensions for some work-sharing civil service retirees. These individuals were in receipt of allowances before they retired in the last 20 years or so.
'The issues that have been brought to my attention by the NSSO are completely unacceptable,' Mr Chambers said.
'The NSSO has responsibility for the essential function of the provision of pay and pensions to public and civil servants and it has failed in this fundamental duty. I have instructed the CEO of the NSSO that the multiple errors must be corrected by the NSSO as a matter of urgency.'
The NSSO provides human resources, payroll, pension and finance management services to public service bodies, including government departments.
Mr Chambers said he is committed to fully and comprehensively addressing the matter to ensure all money owed to the State is fully recouped and money owed to individuals is refunded, and to restore trust in the NSSO. He said a pool of 13,000 retirees will be checked.
'To be clear, this does not imply that all 13,000 will have anomalies, but all 13,000 will be checked,' he said.
Mr Chambers said issues arose due to administrative errors in the NSSO and are not the fault of any of the individuals impacted.
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