HSE overpaid staff more than €30m over three years

Updated / Sunday, 18 Oct 2026 17:28 A total of €9.53 million in overpayments to HSE staff were identified last year The HSE overpaid its staff by more than €30 million in the space of three years with thousands of employees receiving money they were not entitled to. A total of €9.53m in overpayments were identified last year, slightly down on the €9.55 million flagged in 2024.

In 2023, just over €11.1m in incorrect payments to health service employees were discovered according to figures released under FOI. A total of 3,242 staff were in receipt of overpayments last year, equivalent to an average of almost €3,000 per person. The HSE said that €5.163m in money incorrectly paid out was recovered in 2025.

However, more than €4.3m worth of overpayments remained outstanding at the end of the year. Around 3,700 employees received more money than they were entitled to in 2024, roughly €2,570 per person. A total of 4,371 staff were overpaid in 2023, an average of €2,540 in each case.

The amount of money outstanding at year-end has been falling, however, according to the HSE data. In 2023, €5.68m worth of overpayments were listed as "unrecovered" at the end of the year. That fell to €4.7m by 31 December 2024 and dropped further last year to around €4.33m.

An information note said the figures covered just "statutory entities" and "HSE staff only." A spokesperson said the HSE took overpayments very seriously and "works hard to minimise this occurring". They said: "The main reasons for overpayments include data entry errors, late entry of unpaid leave, sick leave-related errors, employees not being removed from the payroll in a timely manner, pension overpayments, and allowance overpayments [or] payments made in error." The spokesperson said once an overpayment was identified, a formal notification issued to the employee outlined proposed arrangements for repayment.

They added: "The HSE will actively engage with the employee on any deviation from this. Where no response is received, the HSE will initiate an automatic deduction where the employee is in receipt of pay."