ETB made pension overpayments of over €200k to widower of deceased worker for nine years
Gordon Deegan
The largest Education and Training Board (ETB) in the country made pension overpayments totalling €202,739 for almost a decade after a widow/er of a deceased ETB worker failed to disclose a new marriage for nine years.
The newly released 2024 annual report for the Dublin and Dun Laoghaire ETB reveals that it has now entered an agreement with the former spouse to recover the €202,739 overpayment.
The overpayment arose in 2010 after a retired ETB employee died and their spouse was subsequently awarded the spouse’s pension.
However, the person remarried in 2015 but failed to inform the Dublin and Dun Laoghaire ETB and the National Shared Services Office (NSSO) for another nine years before finally disclosing the change in marital status in August 2024.
The NSSO administers pension payments on behalf of Dublin and Dun Laoghaire ETB, and when the spouse claimant contacted the NSSO and advised them of their changed marital status, the NSSO immediately discontinued the spouse’s pension payment in August 2024.
The report states that €202,739 was the gross overpayment and €108,653 is the net overpayment.
The section of the report which deals with Statement on Internal Control states that, as a consequence of the overpayment, Dublin and Dun Laoghaire ETB revised and amended the Spouses Pension application form.
It states that the amended application form now includes an instruction that a spouse/civil partner must contact Dublin and Dun Laoghaire ETB in writing if their marital/civil status changes.
The gender of the former widow/er is not disclosed in the report.
Dublin and Dun Laoghaire ETB is the largest of the 16 ETBs throughout Ireland and employs over 4,600 employees and supports over 80,000 learners in their career and education.
The 2024 report shows that its spend increased to €313.4m that included €151.2m in pay.
Elsewhere in the Statement on Internal Control, it deals with Data Breaches, Fraud, a Revenue Unit and Payment of Arrears.
In the case of Data Breaches, the report states that in 2024, five data breaches ranging from low to high risk were reported to the Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) - one low, one medium and three high risk.
The report states that no claims for compensation were paid in 2024 for any of the 2024 breaches.
It adds: “In March 2023, Dublin and Dun Laoghaire ETB had a data breach related to learner data in a centre. This breach resulted in payment of compensation through our insurers to two individuals in 2024.”
Under the heading of Fraud, the report states that two external investigations were ongoing in 2024 in relation to the suspected fraud that was notified in 2022 in two bodies funded by Dublin and Dun Laoghaire ETB.
The report states that in 2024, both sums were recovered by Dublin and Dun Laoghaire ETB. It goes on: "However, per capita payments linked to one of the cases is likely to result in additional monies being repaid to Dublin and Dun Laoghaire ETB. Garda investigations are ongoing in both cases."
The report states that no new incidents were reported under Dublin and Dun Laoghaire ETBs' Fraud Policy in 2024.
Under the heading of Revenue Audit, the report states that Dublin and Dun Laoghaire ETB was one of the ETBs selected by Revenue in April 2025 to complete a Level 1 Compliance Intervention focusing on Electronic Services supplied by foreign suppliers for the period 2023 - 2024.
The report states that following engagement with Revenue, it was identified that DDLETB had applied a VAT methodology that differed from Revenue’s position on specific invoice types.
The report states that “following the review, additional VAT liabilities were identified. The total additional VAT paid was €47,666, interest of €6,815 and a penalty for 2023 of €687”.
In relation to pay arrears, the report states that 256 staff members were paid arrears ranging from €40 to €9,106, and the total of these were €336,690 and the causes of these arrears are varied and primarily due to normal payroll amendments.
