Mr. Robert Watt:

In a number of cases where this has come to our attention, we have insisted that the pay is changed and that the allowances are taken from people or that people are regraded. That is something we have the power to do, but sometimes the situation becomes more complex because people have a legal entitlement as they were told this was their pay. One cannot reduce their pay or take their allowances from them. It depends on the case.

We are working with the HSE on the report. It is something which never should have happened. A person should not be paid above the pay rate sanctioned, whether he or she has been put on the wrong grade, which has happened, or has been given allowances or top-up payments which were not sanctioned. That is not acceptable in bodies funded from the public purse and governed by the circulars and the central pay policy.