MIRAMICHI, N.B. -- Public Services Minister Judy Foote is in Miramichi, N.B., today for a firsthand look at the federal government Phoenix payroll problems.

Foote is meeting with employees at the government's two pay centre sites in the city.

More than 80,000 civil servants are facing pay issues, including 720 who have not been paid at all -- in some cases for months.

The government has promised nearly 500 of those employees will receive paycheques this week.

Foote has said she believes the system's failings are rooted in inadequate training, but the union representing the nearly 600 employees of the centralized centre in Miramichi disputes that.

The software, which went into use this spring, was purchased by the previous Conservative government.