Conduit, the information and directory services company, has said an error which caused delays in the payment of more than 700 staff this week, was due to AIB.

"On Thursday AIB conveyed its apologies to Conduit and its employees for the isolated incident which the bank regretted and which has since been rectified," the chief executive of the company, Mr Liam Young, said in a statement.

"On realisation of the difficulty caused by a human error, AIB and Conduit immediately made available £10,000 in cash to facilitate employees with any immediate needs."

The company said that allegations of individual incidents of people being left without money for holidays and rent by Ms Elaine Jenkinson, a spokeswoman for Communications Workers' Union members in the company, were incorrect. It said that one employee who required £150 for rent had received the money in full.

Ms Jenkinson, who had complained about mistakes in her own payslip, had received payment on Thursday.

"Furthermore, Miss Jenkinson's claim that `about half' of pay slips were inaccurate was erroneous and a misrepresentation of the facts. Following a thorough examination of payroll records, the company had established that, of 730 payslips issued, regrettably 17 were found to be inaccurate and were immediately rectified."

However, Ms Jenkinson said that while she had been paid in full before leaving work on Thursday evening, it was only after she had telephoned The Irish Times.

She said a number of other employees had received payment after making strong protests; but many were not paid until yesterday.