Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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543. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the steps that have been taken to ensure that the payroll division of her Department is operating fully in order that it can deal with the many queries from teachers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50426/21]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy will be aware public health measures were put in place at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, in March 2020, which required most public service workers to work remotely from home, where this was possible.

On foot of these requirements, the work of the Payroll Division in my Department was immediately reorganised, to ensure that it remained fully operational and that there was no disruption to salary and pension payments to over 120,000 education staff. I am pleased to advise the Deputy that this has been achieved.   

Given the necessity for staff to work remotely from home, Payroll Division has also put in place alternative arrangements for dealing with queries received. They are responded to through a through a combination of e-mail, written correspondence, or by telephone. The vast majority of queries are dealt with within two to three days with many being dealt with on the day that they are received. It should be noted that Payroll Division experiences a high volume of queries during the months of August, September and October and there may be a slight delay in responding to queries during this time. This is because our priority is to ensure staff are set up on salary and pension without delay.   Any delay is regretted.