A department of Agriculture inspector at meat plants and cold stores earned £34,843 in overtime in 1997 in addition to his £20,000 salary, according to the Comptroller and Auditor General, Mr John Purcell.
The official worked a 41-hour week and alternated a week of days with a week of nights, beginning at 6 a.m. or 6 p.m. His large pay packet was earned because he was paid overtime for all work outside the 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. period.
Other technical agricultural officers (TAOs) received shift allowances, but this officer and five others were paid overtime under a trade union agreement, Mr Purcell said. In the audit for his annual report, he noted that £536,000 was paid to the six officers under this arrangement between 1995 and 1998. "Five of them are included in the top 10 recipients of overtime in 1998, ranging from £25,595 to £33,229," he said.
A further £33,000 was paid under this arrangement to seven other TAOs at another plant during the seven months to last April.
The six biggest-earning TAOs worked at three meat plants, and their union seemed reluctant and unwilling to enter into a shift arrangement. "The arrangements were not ideal, but the alternative shift system would involve the assignment of at least one or two extra staff in each of the plants involved," Mr Purcell said.
The problem was confined to four plants which carried on production after 6 p.m. until the early hours of the following day. The Department of Agriculture is obliged under EU regulations and national legislation to provide certain services in meat plants - at the least cost to the Exchequer.
One meat plant which began overnight de-boning operations last year agreed in advance to pay the extra cost for the additional hours worked by inspectors. The other three firms pay £10 an hour for each hour of overtime worked by TAOs.
Mr Purcell was informed by the Department's accounting officer that provision for more flexible working arrangements was included in a new restructuring agreement for TAO grades.
The enactment of the Working Time Act 1997 also meant that the working arrangements of technical staff in meat premises would have to be examined to ensure compliance.
As part of the audit he carried out on the Department of Agriculture and Food, Mr Purcell found that costs of £3.2 million had been incurred on a project to develop a new computerised accounting system.
This system has yet to be introduced, because the software developed for it did not meet the Department's requirements. A new implementation date has been set for next year.