Vol. 522 No. 4
204 Dr. Upton asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the number of legal actions entered into by the Department in the past 12 months; the number that are either successful, failed or ongoing; the total cost of these actions; the number of barristers employed; and the amount of money given to each barrister. [19078/00]
Legal actions are entered into by my Department against persons who defraud social welfare schemes, and also against employers who fail to honour their obligations under the PRSI system.
During the period in question, 1/6/99 to 31/5/00 a total of 378 cases were referred to the Chief State Solicitors Office to take criminal prosecutions against alleged offenders. In the same period 159 cases were finalised in court. Of these, 140 were convicted, the remainder were dismissed or struck out. A range of penalties were imposed on those convicted, including imprisonment, fines, and community service. There are currently 526 cases being processed through the courts on behalf of my Department.
All of the cases taken during the period were heard summarily in the District Courts and were prosecuted on my Department's behalf by the Chief State Solicitor's office, CSSO. There were no barristers employed to prosecute any of the cases. The CSSO also prosecutes cases on behalf of other Ministers and, I am advised, does not keep an account of the costs involved in prosecuting cases on behalf of individual Departments.
