Some staff in Leinster House were working so much overtime that they almost doubled their salaries, according to an internal audit.
The inquiry found that two employees in the Superintendent’s office had received overtime payments worth 81% and 86% of their basic salaries.
The overtime payments almost doubled their basic salaries: in the case of the first employee from €36,801 to €69,248, including €29,641 in overtime and €2,805 in allowances, and for the second employee from €30,747 to €63,244, including €26,374 in overtime as well as allowances of €6,122.
The audit also found that the first employee had been working on average 61 hours a week during the period they examined, which was in breach of working time legislation.
It said over a six-week period, a total of 2,108 hours of overtime had been worked in the Superintendent’s office – which was the equivalent of approximately eight extra full-time staff per week.
The internal audit said: “Sixty-eight employees working overtime were in receipt of payments that equated to more than 20% of their basic salary.
“Of these sixty-eight, seven were in receipt of overtime equating to more than 50% of their basic salary.”