No State plans to end printing of payslips despite €2m cost

THE GOVERNMENT has no plans to return to centralised payments of public servants despite spending more than €2 million a year issuing printed payslips, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has said.

While several departments have transferred payslips to an electronic format, many public servants still receive paper payslips, with associated printing costs.

All public servants were until the late 1980s paid in paper format, through a centralised system, which was then devolved to each government department. While the issue of electronic payments for public servants was being considered as part of the Comprehensive Expenditure Review, there were no plans to return to centralised payments, a spokesman for the Department of Public Expenditure said.

The use of electronic payslips varies considerably between departments. The Department of Education has the largest number of employees still receiving paper payslips, with the correspondingly highest printing costs. The payslips for 94,000 school employees, pensioners and other staff cost €1.48 million to print.

The Department of Justice spent the second largest amount, with costs of €510,641 on paper payslips for 20,799 employees and 9,026 pensioners in agencies accountable to it, and a further €8,655 on payslips for 754 department employees.

Employees of some State departments and agencies receive pay information in an electronic form, including those in the Department of Jobs, Enterprise Innovation, the Revenue Commissioners and the Valuation Office.

Independent TD Denis Naughten, who obtained the figures in response to parliamentary questions, said they represented a “shameful waste” of money.

“Right across Government departments cuts are being implemented which are small on savings but big on impact, yet at the same time basic backroom costs such as issuing paper payslips continues,” he said. “While departments may try to dismiss these costs as being minimal, when considered as a proportion of the overall cost of the pay bill, it clearly shows an ethos of not rooting out non-frontline costs within the public sector.”

The Department of Public Expenditure said some staff, including teachers and gardaí, may not have access to computers and required paper payslips.