Vol. 457 No. 1
155 Mr. J. Walsh asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will delineate the circumstances in which a prosecution will or will not take place under Department of Social Welfare regulations in relation to invalidity pension; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15105/95]
156 Mr. J. Walsh asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will define a technical breach of the Department of Social Welfare regulations in relation to claiming invalidity pension; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15106/95]
It is proposed to take Questions Nos. 155 and 156 together.
People on social welfare benefits, including invalidity pension, are required by the regulations to notify the Department, as soon as is reasonably practicable, of any change in circumstances which may affect their right to benefit. Failure to notify the Department of a change would be a breach of the regulations. Such failure could arise for example because of an oversight on the part of the person or a misunderstanding of the rules and regulations or by deliberate intent.
Where the failure results in an overpayment to the person the Department seeks to recover the amount involved as quickly as possible.
There has been no recorded instance of the prosecution of an invalidity claimant since the inception of the scheme in 1970.
The decision to initiate court proceedings in any case would depend on the individual circumstances of the case including whether there appeared to be a deliberate intention to defraud, previous history etc.
The term "technical breach" referred to by the Deputy would be appropriate in this context to describe cases where there is reason to believe that there was no attempt to defraud the Department.
