Vol. 397 No. 7
6 Mr. Spring asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will outline the extent to which he co-operates with his counterpart in the North of Ireland in respect of the detection of fraudulent social welfare claims by persons resident in the North; the number of such cases in which there has been successful prosecution; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Over the years there has been ongoing contact both at ministerial level and official level between my Department and the Department of Health and Social Security, Northern Ireland. In 1988 I met my counterpart, Mr. Richard Needham MP, and had a wide-ranging discussion on matters of common interest including cross-Border co-operation in social security matters. There are continuing contacts at official level dealing with the topics agreed with my counterparts.
I am satisfied that there is effective co-operation in dealing with fraudulent claims on both sides of the Border. However, the Deputy will appreciate that it would not be prudent for me to go into details on operational matters.
Persons resident in Northern Ireland involved in cross-Border fraud would fall to be prosecuted by the authorities there where abuse of their social security schemes has also been involved. Persons resident here who abuse our schemes would be considered for prosecution here. Consequently, no prosecutions of people resident in Northern Ireland have been taken by my Department.
