DONEGAL COUNTY Council has paid €1.2 million to 159 members of the county’s fire service due to an administrative error.
Firefighters in Co Donegal, who are employed by the council, are normally paid about €8,000 on a quarterly basis. However, some workers were surprised to realise they had received up to three times their normal salary when they checked their payslips last Friday.
It is understood at least one person was paid as much as €24,000, while payments of €16,000 each were also believed to have been made to members of the fire service for three months’ work.
One county firefighter, who did not wish to be identified, said he thought he had received the pay cheque of a senior council official.
“When I received my payslip it was for three times the normal sum paid to me every three months. I thought I had got the payslip for someone at senior level in the council, and immediately contacted the fire officer, who said he was aware of the situation.”
In a statement, the council’s finance department said: “An error occurred in the processing of payroll for staff remunerated on a quarterly basis during the week ending Friday, March 26th.
“A total of 159 such staff are included in this payroll run. This error is specific to this category of staff, and does not affect any other groups.”
The council says it is working in conjunction with software providers to rectify the error, and will then make the necessary corrections.