Sinn Féin TD Mairéad Farrell has said it is “unbelievable” that almost €1.7 million was overpaid to Revenue staff last year.
Speaking in a statement published this week, the Galway West TD and party spokesperson on Public Expenditure said the figures showed a recurring pattern across the public sector.
“What I find most shocking is that the monies from these overpayments are by and large not being recouped,” she said.
“No money had been repaid and/or no recoupment plan was in place for more than 50% of cases.”
The comments follow an internal audit of Revenue published by RTÉ earlier this week, which found that 1,430 salary overpayment cases were active at the end of 2023, with a total value of €1.67 million.
In one case, €55,645 was paid to 100 individuals who had not taken up employment.
Another 61 Revenue employees received overpayments worth more than €5,000, with 424 staff receiving between €1,000 and €5,000 extra over the course of the year.
Farrell drew parallels with recent cases involving other civil servants and government officials.
“This mirrors recent revelations of the overpayments to civil servants and ministers,” she said.
“One senior civil servant was overpaid to the tune of €280k…The Secretary General of the Department of Public Expenditure said there is a good chance that much of those overpayments will never be repaid.”
According to Revenue’s audit, around €1.02m was recouped through repayment plans in 2023, closing 767 of the active cases. However, the number of total overpayments increased again by mid-2024, with a further €1.8m owed by 1,611 individuals.
As of June, 853 staff had not repaid any of the funds, despite receiving almost €1m in overpayments between them.
“For any small business owner who has dealt with Revenue they will find this infuriating,” Farrell said.
“They often claim that they will be pursued to the ends of the earth to ensure all their tax obligations are settled.
“Yet here we have the state’s tax authority making overpayments with no serious plans to reclaim these taxpayer funds.”
The Revenue audit also highlighted systemic issues, describing existing work processes and overpayment controls as “dated and fragmented.”
The audit examined issues like late notifications for parental leave, duplicate bank accounts, and delays in updating staff entitlements after resignation or promotion.
“Minister Chambers told me that all options were on the table when it came to reclaiming the overpayments to ministers and civil servants,” Farrell said.
“However, the head of his department painted a much less optimistic picture. This is just more waste from a government so brazen it isn’t even be bothered to appear to be trying.”
Auditors concluded that only “partial assurance” could be given that Revenue’s governance of salary overpayments met civil service standards.
While a dedicated overpayments unit is in place and actively managing cases, Revenue management accepted the report’s four recommendations, including a high-priority finding urging the review of legacy cases.
A 2023 circular from the Department of Public Expenditure states that all overpaid monies — including to retired staff — must be repaid “as soon as possible.”
Revenue said that the most common causes of overpayments were allowances, parental leave, sick leave, retirements and resignations.