Ms Paula Lyons:

The issue is probably around the processing of the pay runs where the processing has to close at a particular point and the payment is made for the following week. The pay run closes on, let us say, a Tuesday for the following week's payment. That is to allow for the process in which a bank file has to be run to distribute the payments. The issue is in capturing any change that would be pay-impacted as a result of absence. That can be sick absence or annual leave. It is about the window of opportunity available.

There are a number of different causes of overpayments. Some of them relate to delay. We have moved to a self-service system, so it is now reliant on employee input or manager input to keep the system updated. That then informs changes that have to be made in the payroll processing. We have put in a lot of effort in recent years in terms of the communication and training processes for employees and managers to input correctly in a timely manner to minimise overpayments.

In response to the Deputy's inquiry-----