The internal audit reveals that Healthcare staff in the region were overpaid €1.3 million in salary, expenses and pensions by the HSE over the past two years including one overpayment of over €30,000. The Independent reports that to date just over €948,000 had been recouped so far with almost €237,000 in overpayments having been written off since 2021.
The audit reveals that 61 individuals owed at least €5,000 each back to the HSE at the end of October last year. The report by HSE internal auditors found the adequacy and effectiveness of control systems for payroll overpayments and recoupment in the HSE Mid West region, which covers healthcare staff in Limerick, Clare and North Tipperary, was “unsatisfactory”.
The audit found that there was no evidence of communication with overpaid people to explain the overpayment, how long it had been happening or repayment options – this was the case in 25 samples. There also was no evidence that the HSE required the causes of overpayments to be investigated to prevent a recurrence.
The main reasons for overpayments related to leaving, sick leave, reduced hours and unpaid leave according to the audit. The handling of overpayment write-offs was also faulted as they were not being written on a quarterly basis as recommended by a management group within the HSE on pay-related overpayments.
The HSE is to implement five recommendations from it’s internal audit team to improve the control of overpayments and recoupment. A dedicated HR pay compliance unit had been established to review the appropriate actions to investigate different causes of overpayments.
