Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 28 October 2004
259 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if a clawback policy relating to means-tested pension payments from pensioners’ wills exists in his Department; the number of such cases taken each year since 2000; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26635/04]
View answerSocial welfare legislation places an obligation on people applying for a means-tested payment to disclose their full means at time of application and to notify my Department of any subsequent changes. The requirement to submit a schedule of assets in the case of deceased old age non-contributory pensioners is to ensure that the correct rate of pension was payable for the duration of the person's entitlement. There is provision in legislation for the recovery of any overpayments from the assets of the deceased's estate. The number of means-tested pension cases where my Department assessed overpayments since 2000 is as follows.
|
Year |
Number of Cases |
|
2000 |
508 |
|
2001 |
442 |
|
2002 |
406 |
|
2003 |
388 |
|
2004 (Up to Sept) |
247 |
