The mix up that led to delays in benefits payments earlier this month was the third time in three years that recipients have received their money late.

A total of 9,850 people were due benefits payments in their bank accounts first thing on December 5, but the money did not arrive because an authorisation email was sent to the wrong address.

Treasury staff scrambled to rectify the situation with nearly everyone receiving their money by just after midnight on Friday. The government had to make some emergency payments to benefit recipients left in trouble by the delay.

In the House of Keys on Tuesday Jason Moorhouse (Arbory, Castletown and Malew) asked Treasury Minister Alfred Cannan how many times benefits recipients had received delayed payments in the past three years - and how many times suppliers to government also received late payments.

Mr Cannan said: ’There have been two other reported late payments, both involving MiCard and both resolved within 24 hours - 1,314 customers were affected.

’As far as payments to suppliers are concerned, invoices are processed by the Treasury’s finance shared services team, where the payment policy is 30 days from supplier invoice date.’

He said Bacs payment runs to suppliers were completed weekly ’to ensure that invoices are paid as quickly as possible’.

He added: ’The average number of days from the invoice being processed to being paid is four, across the three-year period.’

There were reasons for the payment target not being met for suppliers, he said, including a delay in the invoice being received from the relevant government department or, where the invoice was for a new supplier, further verification was required.

Mr Cannan added: ’We process tens of thousands of payments during the financial year, involving often hundreds of millions of pounds in total, and from time to time things do not operate as smoothly as they should, but we always work to ensure that matters are corrected as quickly as possible.’