Vol. 511 No. 1
36 Mr. Bell asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the plans, if any, he has to ensure that social welfare officers will continue to participate in Garda check points; if the proposal for social welfare officers to participate in these checkpoints came from the Garda or his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23630/99]
In early 1998 my Department accepted an invitation from the Gardaí to participate in multi-agency vehicle checkpoints. These checkpoints involve staff from my Department participating with the Gardaí and officials of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the Revenue Commissioners and the Department of the Environment and Local Government in checking for compliance with the law in each of the areas concerned. The checkpoints proved to be effective in identifying areas of potential abuse which could be subsequently followed up. To copperfasten the legal basis of these operations provision was included in this year's Social Welfare Act to provide specific legal cover for officers of my Department participating in these checkpoints.
My Department will continue, as circumstances allow, to participate in vehicle checkpoints as one element of its wide-ranging programme of control of fraud and abuse of social welfare payments. Clearly, because of the necessity of a Garda presence in these exercises the scheduling of checkpoints depends on the availability of gardaí having regard to their other commitments and other activities in which they are engaged. A number of issues in relation to the operation of the checkpoints have been raised on behalf of the staff involved in them and these are at present under discussion with the trade union concerned.
From my Department's perspective participation in these checkpoints is just one measure in a wide range of activities designed to tackle abuse of the social welfare system. The activities include claim reviews, employer visitation for the purpose of inspecting PRSI records, data matching and other computer trawling exercises, liaison and transfer of information with other agencies in accordance with the law and special intensive team review activities on a local basis.
