HEALTHCARE workers and pensioners in Limerick and the extended Mid West were overpaid to the tune of €1.3 million by the HSE over the past two years.
And one person was overpaid by €30,000, according to the results of a recent internal audit, with just €948,000 of the overpayments having been recouped .
At the end of October last, some 61 people owed at least €5,000 to the HSE. Overall, a total of 806 employees or pensioners individually owe the HSE an average of €1,484 in the over payments debacle.
The report by HSE internal auditors found the effectiveness of control systems for payroll overpayments and recoupment in the HSE Mid West region, which covers healthcare staff in Limerick, was “unsatisfactory”.
It found that controls operated by the payroll department, which deals with €500million in wage and pension payments every year, created “a serious and substantial risk that the system will fail or has failed to meet its objectives”.
Auditors found that two-thirds of all those who owed money to the HSE had made no repayment to reduce their overpayment balance between January and October of last year.
At the time of the completion of the audit at the end of October 2022, a total of €691,239 was still due to be repaid, of which €487,595 related to money owed since before January 2022.
The overpayments were made mostly to people on sick leave, people leaving the service, and people whose hours had been reduced.
Of a sample of 25 overpayments, amounting to €216,814, only eight people had repaid the money in full.
Three others were repaying the outstanding debt by an agreed schedule with another two reimbursing the HSE on a sporadic basis.
However, 12 of the 25 individuals, including nine former employees, were not repaying any outstanding amount.
It revealed that one individual had been overpaid €30,210 due to “a late leaving action”.
The report found that the agreed repayment schedule for three individuals exceeded the allowed time frame under regulation.
One person is repaying €200 per fortnight to clear an overpayment totalling €21,810.
The audit found no evidence in any of the 25 overpayments sampled that an initial letter was issued to the respective employee to explain the reason for the overpayment, the overpayment period, and the repayment options.
In one case, an individual was first notified 29 months later that they had been overpaid.
