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Irish Independent
3 days ago
- Business
- Irish Independent
Nearly all government ministers owe money to the State due to pension error, with funds 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. ADVERTISEMENT 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.
Irish Independent
3 days ago
- Business
- Irish Independent
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.
Belfast Telegraph
3 days ago
- Business
- Belfast Telegraph
Retired civil servants and ministers to have pension deductions checked
Mr Chambers said that serious and systemic operational issues in the National Shared Services Office (NSSO) were brought to his attention in late March, after which further issues were found. Because of administrative errors in the NSSO, members of the current government, some members of previous governments and a number of office holders have had incorrect application of pension deductions. Retired civil servants who were in receipt of allowances prior to retirement were also the subject of miscalculations. The NSSO provides services such as human resources, payroll, pension, and finance management services to public service bodies. The full scale of the issues, relating to payroll and pensions, and the number of people impacted is still being assessed. Cabinet were briefed on the administrative errors in the NSSO on Tuesday. 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. The Department of Public Expenditure said the issues were not the fault of any of the individuals impacted. A pool of 13,000 retired civil servants is being assessed, a small fraction of whom are expected to be affected by the anomaly. One issue relates to the miscalculation and under-payment of pensions for some work-sharing Civil Service retirees who were in receipt of allowances prior to retirement in the last 20 years or so. Another 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. This relates to superannuation deductions and Additional Superannuation Contributions (ASC) with respect to salaries, allowances and gifted income. The NSSO is starting a process to contact ministers to outline the issue to them and to make arrangements for the recoupment of monies owed or to issue refunds as appropriate. The amounts involved range from hundreds of euros to the low 30,000s of euro, in terms of monies to be recouped. A number of ministers are due refunds ranging from hundreds of euros up to the low 20,000s of euro. The third issue relates to the administration of Chargeable Excess Tax (CT) and Withholding Tax (WHT) in respect of senior grade Civil Service pensioners. Chargeable Excess Tax is a tax on pension funds at retirement which exceed the Standard Fund Threshold, which is currently two million euro. In a small number of cases, this tax was not correctly applied by the NSSO. Similar to the CET issue, withholding tax is deducted from retirement lump sums over 200,000 euro and most likely applies to those from principal officer level upwards. In total between CET and WHT, NSSO has identified 30 cases. The liabilities for this cohort range from a few hundred euros to 280,000 euro. Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers said the issues brought to his attention are 'completely unacceptable'. '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, particularly regarding the treatment of retirees who had been on a work-sharing pattern in the Civil Service.'
Irish Daily Mirror
3 days ago
- Business
- Irish Daily Mirror
Issues with pension deductions could see some Ministers have to repay up to €30K
Some current and former ministers could owe the State up to €30,000 following issues with their pension deductions. The National Shared Services Office (NSSO) provides services to public service bodies, including all Government departments. This includes human resources, payroll, pension, and finance management services. Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers confirmed on Tuesday he was made aware of issues with the NSSO's systems in March. However, the full details of the issues were not provided to him until last week. There are three cohorts impacted by these errors, including retired civil service retirees with work-sharing patterns, current and former ministers and office holders and retired senior civil servants. Mr Chambers confirmed that the error lies with the NSSO and any underpayments or overpayments are not the fault of the individuals impacted. However, he said, the money will be recouped or repaid. Due to administrative errors, pension deductions were incorrectly applied to most members of the current Government, Ministers of State, some members of previous Governments and recent office holders. The NSSO will now contact them to explain the issue and 'make arrangements for the recoupment of monies owed or to issue refunds as appropriate.' Mr Chambers said he would not confirm the exact amounts owed and which former or current ministers owe money However, he confirmed the amounts range from hundreds of euros to the low €30,000s 'in terms of monies to be recouped'. A number of Ministers will also be owed money back from the NSSO, ranging from hundreds of euros up to the low €20,000s. Separately, Minister Chambers said the NSSO is currently conducting a 'scoping exercise to establish the scale of the problem' regarding retired civil servants. He continued: 'A pool of 13,000 retirees will have to be checked, although the number affected is likely to be much smaller. 'To be clear, this does not imply that all 13,000 will have anomalies, but all 13,000 will be checked.' The third issue concerns the administration of Chargeable Excess Tax (CT) and Withholding Tax (WHT) on senior-grade civil service pensioners. CT is a tax on pension funds at retirement when the pension pot exceeds the Standard Fund Threshold, which is currently €2m. WHU is deducted from retirement lump sums over €200,000. In total, between CET and WHT, NSSO has identified 30 cases. One person owes the State up to €280,000.
Irish Independent
3 days ago
- Business
- Irish Independent
Up to 13,000 retired civil servants and ministers checked for ‘serious' incorrect pension payments as one owes €280,000
Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers has revealed that the National Shared Services Office has begun a scoping exercise 'to establish the scale of the problem'. He said there are three cohorts of individuals impacted by the errors – and the liabilities range from a few hundred euros, up to €280,000. They include current and former ministers and office holders, retired senior civil servants and civil service retirees with work-sharing patterns. 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 euros 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 euros up 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 euros to €280,000,' said the minister. 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. ADVERTISEMENT 'The issues that have been brought to my attention by the NSSO are completely unacceptable,' said Mr Chambers. '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, particularly regarding the treatment of retirees who had been on a work-sharing pattern in the civil service.' 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 although the number affected is likely to be much smaller. '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. He said he updated cabinet on a number of 'serious and systemic' operational issues in the National Shared Services Office after they were brought to his attention recently. 'My department is in ongoing engagement with the NSSO to establish the full scale of the issues and their impact on payroll and pension matters,' he said. He said the NSSO is today publishing an information note on its website with detail on the issues identified so far. The minister said he will outline a series of actions he has already undertaken or will be undertaking shortly to address these issues. 'Certain initial issues within the NSSO were first brought to my attention in late March, and while the full facts and scale of the problems were still being established during this time further errors and issues were identified,' he said. He said he received an update on June 4 before advising cabinet this morning. Anyone with queries relating to work sharing pensions can contact the NSSO Customer Contact Centre via email payrollcontact@ or the phone line 0818 107 100.
