Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 26 February 2015
214. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Education and Skills the cost of issuing hard copy payslips to all employees paid by her; the number of staff issued with such payslips; the steps being taken to only issue payslips by electronic means; the time frame involved; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8512/15]
View answerI can confirm that payslips are issued to an average of 98,000 school employees/pensioners, every fortnight. In 2014, the cost of postage for these payslips was approx. €1.3m.
While it had been planned to implement online payslips for school employees/pensioners by end 2014, it has not been possible to progress same, due to other priorities that arose. These priorities included the implementation of
- section 30 of the Teaching Council Act 2001, with effect from January 2014;
- new sick leave arrangements for school employees, with effect from September 2014;
- measures provided for by the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (FEMPI) Act 2013 and the Haddington Road Agreement;
- Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) European Union Regulation, in mid-2014 etc.
Due to other priorities that have emerged, it is not possible to set a time-frame for the implementation of online payslips for school employees/pensioners. These priorities include
- the implementation of payments to further groups of home tutors, through the payroll;
- changes to the recently implemented sick leave scheme;
- the implementation of rolled-up holiday pay for casual and non-casual employees etc.
I can confirm that staff in my Department currently have access to on-line payslips and will continue to have access to on-line payslips, following the migration of the staff payroll to the Payroll Shared Services Centre in Tullamore, next month.
