An Garda Síochána overpaid officers and civilian staff to the tune of €4.25 million in salary payments over the past three years.
At the end of last year, the balance still outstanding from overpayments had risen to more than €2.8 million, reports Breaking News.
Internal audit committee papers said the majority of cases were linked to sickness absence, with late notification of pay changes identified as a root cause.
One briefing note said the force had discovered cases where its overpayments unit “did not receive any notification” that staff had been overpaid, reports Breaking News.
Another said a manual process had left “too many opportunities for errors,” according to records released under FOI.
The new figures show that €1 million in overpayments were made to 487 gardaí last year, an average of around €2,100 per person, reports Breaking News.
A further €406,000 was overpaid to 204 civilian staff, roughly €2,000 each.
TheLiberal.ie won’t quit
Please support us with a small donation on PayPal!
The amount of money recouped from gardaí last year was just €549,000, with another €174,000 recovered from garda staff, reports Breaking News.
The end-of-year balance of overpayments for gardaí was €2.18 million, with a further €665,000 owed by civilian employees.
That year-end balance has risen steadily over the past three years, from €2.29 million in 2023 to €2.53 million in 2024, before rising again to €2.84 million last year, reports Breaking News.
Documents from An Garda Síochána’s audit and risk committee said around two-thirds of cases related to illness.
One report said discussions were under way to improve faster reporting of pay-affected sick leave, reports Breaking News.
It said there were issues with pensions as well, where ex-members should have had payments reduced when they took on roles in the public sector after retirement.
“A formal report is awaited as to the impact of this. It has been advised that it is likely that further overpayments will occur,” the report explained, reports Breaking News.
Asked about the figures, a garda spokesperson said: “There has been a dedicated focus by An Garda Síochána over the last number of years on overpayments.
“This has resulted in a reduction in money being over-paid and the instances of overpayment. This focus has continued this year and will be maintained as long as it is required,” reports Breaking News.
The spokesperson added that advisory support was available to make “fair arrangements” for recoupment of the money involved by gardaí and civilian staff.
They added: “The Employee Advisory Service provides this service where hardship is advised,” reports Breaking News.
Tell us your thoughts in the Facebook post and share this with your friends.
