Department of Education error leaves pensioners unpaid

Almost 30,000 retired teachers, special need assistants and clerical officers have been left without their pensions this week after an error by officials in the Department of Education meant the money was not lodged to their accounts.

“Due to the omission of an authorisation the pension payments were not issued today,” a department spokesman confirmed yesterday.

Pensioners who contacted The Irish Times spoke of their concern at the absence of information from the department. However, the spokesman defended its reaction. “Once the payroll division became aware of the difficulty a notice was placed on the website and Twitter. The primary retired teachers association were also advised of the position.”

He said retired staff would have access to their payments from this morning.

The problem has echoes of a systems failure last July which led to tens of thousands of public and private sector employees not being paid their wages. Teachers, gardaí, nurses and people working for private companies reported getting payslips but no pay into their bank accounts from financial institutions.