A legislation error has meant $3.4 million in unauthorised payments were made through the Winter Energy Payment scheme last year.
That meant 25,760 unauthorised payments were made by the Ministry of Social Development from July 1 to September 29, 2018.
Finance Minister Grant Robertson said it was a "situation where the Government's intention was for those people to be paid".
"This is a small error in the drafting of the legislation. The important thing is the people who were entitled to this, got paid."
"There's a piece of legislation working its way through to correct the law in that regard."
Mr Roberston said he did not believe the winter energy package had been "tarnished".
Ministry of Social Development's Simon MacPherson said that "no one missed out on Winter Energy Payment last winter and no one will miss out this winter".
He said the legislation that was passed in 2017 did not "fully align with the policy intent of who should be paid".
Of the $265 million total Winter Energy Payment spend, $3.4 million (1.3 per cent) was unauthorised.
"All the people who were intended to get the payment last winter were paid. No one missed out on Winter Energy Payment last winter and no one will miss out this winter," Mr MacPherson said.
He said the error is expected to be fixed by May 1.
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