A MANAGER in the Department of Social Protection has been dismissed after defrauding the department of almost €200,000 in overtime payments over an eight-year period.
The former manager was claiming overtime between 2001 and 2009 despite not working overtime hours during this period.
The discovery of the fraud only came to light following a routine query last year. Gardaí have been notified and are understood to be conducting an investigation.
Internal department records show the individual was adding his name to overtime forms after already obtaining clearance and signatures on the forms by senior managers. The records were provided to The Irish Timesunder the Freedom of Information Act.
Once the fraud was uncovered last year, the staff member was suspended and an investigation took place under the department’s disciplinary code. Department records show the individual admitted to misappropriating a total of €195,412 in overtime.
Despite the fraud, the former manager – dismissed from the department in September 2009 – is now in receipt of an early retirement pension. Department officials received legal advice which indicated his pension could not be withheld. However, they have insisted he pay back the full amount owed to the department.
The precise amount the former staff member will have to pay back is unclear, however. Advice received by the department was that repayment of the gross amount due – in this case €195,412 – was best practice in dealing with overpayments, the records state.
However, during the disciplinary process, it was suggested the staff member should only pay back what the department was owed, which was the actual cost of overtime lost and employer’s PRSI. This meant the net amount due was €111,253.
The final agreement between the staff member and the department stipulated that for years where tax and PRSI rebates were due, these should be obtained by the former employee, returned to the department and deducted against the total amount owed.
For years where refunds were not available, these would not be pursued by the department and the staff member would repay the net amount owed for those years.
Records state: “Any loss (which will be the form of tax and PRSI paid by him) will therefore be borne by the former staff member. This will contribute to the rapid repayment of the amount owed to the department.”
On foot of a signed agreement, the former manager is paying back 25 per cent of his pension until the end of 2014. Any tax rebates or lump sums received by the staff member will also go towards paying back the amount owed.
“In the event of these terms not being met, the department will take legal action to recover the monies. In line with procedures, 4 per cent compound interest will be added to the amount owed each year.” When officials examined the individual’s entitlement to an early retirement pension, they were advised that there would have been “major legal difficulties” in denying it. On foot of the fraud, officials expanded their investigations to ensure there were no similar instances of fraud taking place. No irregularities were uncovered.
The department says it has since made changes to overtime forms and strengthened the checking of overtime claims. It is also planning to change the way overtime is managed and establish an online system to further strengthen procedures.