Salary overpayments increased by €4.875m

The amount the HSE spent on salary errors in 2023 was almost €5 million greater than the previous year, the Medical Independent (MI) can reveal.

According to figures provided to this newspaper by the HSE, the Executive spent €12.74  million on salary overpayments in 2023.

This compares with €7.865 million spent on overpayments in 2022, which is an increase of €4.875 million.

The current amount of salary overpayments yet to be retrieved across the two years stands at €10.94 million (€4.042 million in 2022 and €6.898 million in 2023).

A spokesperson for the HSE told MI the primary cause of the increase in overpayments from 2022 to 2023 was late notification of changes relating to employees’ employment.

The main reasons for overpayments in 2023 were: Sick leave-related errors; employment ceased but employee not taken off payroll; payments to deceased pensioners; and late entry of unpaid leave.

They were also due to master data errors and time-entry input errors, among other reasons.

The spokesperson pointed out the HSE is currently implementing a fully integrated “SAP HR/time/payroll solution”, with roll-out due to be completed next year.

The spokesperson added a pay compliance unit has been established under direct governance of the national pay-related overpayments management group to provide a dedicated focus on reducing systemic payment errors.