Civil servant received severance payout of more than €1m

A civil servant received a payout of more than €1 million under a Government severance scheme and had more than seven years of “notional” work added to their overall service.

The details are included in the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) special report on the management of severance payments in public sector bodies between 2011 and 2013.

Six severance schemes were examined by the C&AG, including a Civil Service superannuation scheme, a scheme for secretaries general, one covering the chief executives of State bodies, one for embassy staff and a scheme covering ministerial appointments.

Broad compliance

The C&AG found “broad compliance” with the scheme rules in most cases, except in the case of the one for chief executives of State bodies.

Just one severance payment was made between 2011 and 2013 under the Civil Service scheme, which is governed by 1963 legislation.

The person concerned received an early pension payment of €665,000 plus €454,000 for “added years”, bringing them to a total payout of €1,119,000.

The C&AG report said the provision for the 7.66 added years was approved by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.

The addition of this “notional” service falls within the terms of the scheme, but the amount was not disclosed in the department’s accounts in 2012.

Eleven secretaries general received just in excess of €10 million between them in severance payments from 2011 to 2013 – an average of €911,000 each.

The report reveals one retiree “waived entitlement under the scheme to a cash payment of nearly €127,000”.

Five out of the 11 cases were reviewed by the C&AG to assess their compliance.

In all the cases, it was found the pension lump sum, added years and severance payment had been calculated correctly and in accordance with the scheme.

€1m for CEOs

Two severance payments, totalling €1,045,000, were made to the chief executives of State bodies.

In both cases, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform gave consent but "noted its dissatisfaction that it had no alternative but to consent, as the deals had already been agreed between the bodies and the chief executives".

Some €5.8 million was paid to secretarial assistance staff following employment.

Severance payments totalled €3.9 million and the remaining €1.9 million related to standard pension payments.

The average for each former employee was €21,000, but one secretarial assistant got more than €255,000.

In the case of ministerial appointments, 41 individuals received severance payments between 2011 and 2013, totalling €1,074,000.

A total of 54 embassy staff received a total of €696,000 in severance – an average payment of €13,000.