Health service staff will be paid as normal this week despite the cyberattack which has caused serious problems to its computer systems trade unions have been told.
However, trade union Siptu said it was informed by Health Service Executive management that the health authority may have problems for the present in passing on deductions from staff salaries to third parties such as credit unions.
Siptu also said unions were "advised that the HSE is in direct contact with Revenue as they are not able to upload payments deducted for the purpose of income tax until the IT system reopens".
Siptu said management also indicated that staff in some areas may face difficulties in receiving mileage or subsistence payments. The union also said that management met with trade unions on Tuesday regarding payment to staff in the light of the cyberattack.
Siptu has told members that “HSE representatives advised union representatives that normal payroll will proceed in the main for this week, including the payment of pensions. Siptu representatives were advised that significant work was undertaken to achieve this as full data entry/input was required as existing files were not accessible due to the recent attack.”
Central pay system
The union said it understood that “challenges” relating to payroll may continue for the next number of weeks given the need to manually input data into the central pay system.
Siptu said in its bulletin to members that union representatives were informed deductions were processed from pay. However it said “the payment of these deductions to third parties, such as insurance providers or credit unions, is not possible due to the shutting down of the IT system. We understand that third parties are being informed deductions are being made from payroll as normal and will be passed on as soon as the IT system is reopened.”
The HSE in a note to staff on Monday said: “We are continuing to focus on this week’s payroll and work on any contingency measures when they become necessary. We anticipate some further issues may arise this week.”
