Departmental Staff Remuneration

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 25 April 2013

Thursday, 25 April 2013

Questions (178)

Andrew Doyle

Question:

178. Deputy Andrew Doyle asked the Minister for Defence the number people who are on the payroll in his Department and in the Irish Defence Forces; the number of physical payslips that his Department and the Irish Defence Force process each month; the percentage of these sent to payees in the post; if he will provide the breakdown in the overall cost of physical payslips and postage per year for the years 2008 to 2012; if payees have the option of switching to online payslips; if he and his Department will implement online payslips in the near future; if he has considered the savings this would make; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19511/13]

Written answers

Minister for Defence

The numbers of people who are on the payroll of the Department of Defence and the Defence Forces are set out in the table.

Civil Servants	Civilian Employees	Defence Forces*	Defence Forces Pensioners
371	582	11,669	11,950

*Defence Forces include Enlisted Personnel; Officers and Reservists

The total number of payslips processed each month is 48,621 of which approximately 98% (47,725) are paper payslips which are issued through the post.

The table gives the overall cost of physical payslips and postage per annum for the years 2008 to 2012.

Year	Postage	Stationery and Production Costs	Overall Cost per annum
2008	€113,355.77	€41,543.25	€154,899.02
2009	€113,280.93	€36,978.00	€150,258.93
2010	€120,260.91	€29,148.71	€149,409.62
2011	€122,502.61	€29,492.00	€151,994.61
2012	€119,171.82	€32,416.43	€151,588.25

The Department currently has an online payslip facility which is currently limited to Departmental civil servants. The Department has considered the potential savings, the associated costs and security concerns associated with the extension of this facility to all employees and the matter is under active consideration.