Paper payslips for school staff are to be phased out entirely by 2028, according to the Department of Education, which paid more than €3 million in postage fees last year.
Figures obtained under freedom of information (FOI) laws show the department posted more than 2.8 million payslips in 2024, at a cost of €3,010,856.
One of the largest payrolls in the State, the department issues payslips to about 144,000 current and retired school staff.
These include primary and secondary school teachers, special needs assistants, school secretaries and caretakers spanning about 3,700 schools across the country.
RM Block
Despite a decrease in the number of payslips posted last year following the introduction of an option for staff to receive digital payslips, the cost of posting them has risen.
The average cost of posting one paper payslip last year was €1.06, up from €0.89 in 2023 when the department spent €2.99 million on postage costs for some 3.35 million paper payslips.
Since the introduction of the digital service in April 2023, which is an opt-in service only, nearly 46,000 people have chosen to receive their payslips electronically.
Out of the 144,000 currently on the department’s payroll, 38,000 are retirees, about 4,600 of whom have opted in to receive e-payslips.
“However, rising postage costs have reduced some of the savings from this switch,” according to a department spokesman who said the department “encourages” staff to opt-in to receive e-payslips.
The department is currently developing a new HR and payroll system which will allow both current and former staff to view their payslips online, the spokesman said.
Under the current system, staff must have a public services card to receive e-payslips.
It is expected that this new system will take about two-and-a-half years to complete.
[ Why are Ireland’s schools struggling to find teachers?Opens in new window ]
Different pay groups, such as retirees, primary, secondary and non-teaching staff, will “go-live along the way”.
“By 2028, it is expected that all staff will receive digital payslips only, and paper payslips will be phased out,” he said.
Plans to upgrade the payroll system to allow for digital payslips stretch back to more than a decade ago.
Then minister for education Jan O’Sullivan said while it had been planned to switch to digital by the end of 2014, it was not possible “due to other priorities that arose”.
The department has faced criticism over the costs in recent years after a 2021 Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report noted it had spent €10.2 million on posting payslips over a six-year period.
“A modern State organisation could expend approximately €1.7 million annually in a more productive manner than posting payslips,” it said.
At the time, the PAC urged the department to develop an electronic payroll system “as a matter of urgency”.
