My Department operates a wide range of measures to combat fraud and abuse of the social welfare system. These measures include checks on the entitlements of those receiving payments and inspections to ensure that employers are meeting their obligations under the Social Welfare Acts. A total of 6,745 inspections of employers were made last year of which close to 2,000 were joint inspections by officers of Revenue and of my Department who operate in special units. My Department has some 600 staff engaged full time on anti-fraud and abuse measures. In addition, checks are made at various stages from the receipt of a claim to the decision and later during the currency of payment to ensure that the various conditions attaching to the payment are fulfilled. The development of computerisation has been of considerable assistance in this work in recent years. Savings of £158 million were achieved in 1997. Prosecutions are considered in all cases in which the evidence indicates fraud.
In certain specified sectors employers are required by law to notify my Department when they take on new employees or subcontractors. The sectors involved are security, construction, forestry, contract cleaning, road haulage, private road transport, catering, the licensed bar trade and meat processing. Each notification is cross-checked against the Department's central records database to identify possible instances of working and claiming and non-compliance with PRSI obligations and any irregularities discovered are followed up. To make employers aware of their responsibilities, "fact packs" of leaflets outlining employers' social welfare and PRSI responsibilities are regularly sent to employers in these specified categories. I am keeping the effectiveness of anti-fraud and anti-abuse measures, including the registration of employees in ceretain sectors, under review and whatever changes or additional measures as appear appropriate in the light of experience will be made.