A Government department made "irregular" payments of over €1.4m to social welfare branch office managers because they were being overwhelmed with queries from Ukrainian refugees.
The Department of Social Protection signed off on the payments after hearing that the managers were working after hours and at home to help people in the temporary protection system fleeing the war.
The €1.425m expenditure was heavily criticised by the Comptroller and Auditor General who said sanction should have been sought from the Department of Public Expenditure.
Internal records detail how social welfare branch managers were swamped following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
An email said: "The language barrier is significant, and they perceive the branch office to be the main source of information for all public services".
"They are placing huge demands on the branch offices; they call regularly and in high numbers to the offices for a multiplicity of needs and this is putting additional pressure on [staff]," the email said.
It also said the branch office staff were increasingly running up energy and other utility costs at home because they had to work such long hours.
In internal discussions in late 2022, an official wrote: "[They] are the only government office in most areas (most are based in rural areas), and high claim loads mean higher numbers of people visiting the offices, higher staffing requirements and larger offices".
"[These] all contribute to increased financial costs and outgoings - some smaller [offices] have disproportionately high numbers of [temporary protection Ukrainians to help]."
A paper on the ex-gratia payments said branch managers were facing rising running costs, staff pay reviews, sick pay, and difficulties in accommodating remote working requests.
It said a "one-off" lump sum from an underspend in a different area of the department could be used to help plug the funding shortfall.
The ex-gratia payment would be calculated on the number of claims each branch office had as well as the number of Ukrainian refugees in their area.
The paper said: "The recommendation is to award a one-off payment to branch managers - this payment acknowledges the continued commitment of branch managers to the delivery of services to our customers."
In approving the payment, an internal email said it needed to be made "absolutely clear that these are one-off" and did not set any precedent.
"The figures proposed run very close to the overall [redacted] budget. If proceeding, consider a lower payment structure that does not run the risk of breaching the overall budget allocation," it said.
However, a report this year by the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) found the payments - which ranged from €16,000 to €51,000 - had not been approved appropriately.
It said the department had failed to provide a "detailed, evidence-based assessment" on why the top-up payments were needed.
The C&AG said the extra funding was a "significant enhancement" of a pay structure that had only been agreed in 2018.
In response, the Department said that in future, they would consult with the Department of Public Expenditure over contract terms and governance for branch office managers.
Reporting by Ken Foxe
