Education Policy

Tuesday, 29 September 2026

Questions (387, 388)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh

Question:

387. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Education and Youth her views on a matter (detail supplied). [68309/26]

View answer

388. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Education and Youth is she is aware of the difficulties teachers are experiencing contacting the payroll section in order to have their queries answered (details supplied). [68306/26]

View answer

Written answers

Minister for Education and Youth

I propose to take Questions Nos. 387 and 388 together.

I wish to inform that the deputy that a member of my payroll department has contacted the teacher concerned.

The payroll division of my department relies on schools to notify it of any changes to teachers work pattern in a timely manner and this information is in turn to make adjustments to a teacher's salary. The instructions from the school were issued late to the department which meant that the teacher received full salary for periods of time when she should have received a lesser amount of salary. The overpayment of salary will be recovered and the timeline involved with the recovery has been explained to the teacher concerned.

By way of background, it may be helpful to outline the role and responsibilities of the Payroll Division. The Division provides payroll services to more than 3,700 schools and approximately 170,000 current and former school staff.

In February 2025, an online customer contact form for payroll-related queries was introduced. The form was also made available to customers for other areas of my department should as Pension Unit and School Transport.

This online contact form replaced the multiple individual email addresses previously used by schools and staff members to contact the department and in particular Payroll Division. The introduction of the online form has enabled the Department to streamline the processing of queries, improve the allocation of work across payroll teams, and provide greater consistency in responses to routine payroll-related enquiries.

Given the significant volume of queries received by the Division, response times can vary throughout the year. During peak periods, when query volumes are particularly high, some enquiries may take longer to process and respond to.

It is important to note that the Payroll Division's telephone services have not been discontinued. Telephone support remains available, with differing contact hours provided for schools, current staff, and former staff, reflecting the distinct needs and requirements of each customer group.

Question No. 388 answered with Question No. 387.