4 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.
