There are strong and long standing relationships with a wide range of contacts taking place between officials of my Department and their counterparts in Northern Ireland. This ranges from senior management engagement, ongoing day-to-day operational contact and also the annual Summer School jointly run by the two authorities. In general, the main contacts are in relation to the assessment and payment of social welfare benefits. Payment of cross-border benefits is regulated by EU Regulations on the co-ordination of social security systems and so there is a necessity for ongoing contacts with Northern and UK authorities to assess and pay benefits across a wide range of schemes.
Fraud control is an important issue for authorities in both jurisdictions and in this regard there are formal and ad-hoc arrangements in place for the sharing of information in this area. A Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of Ireland is in place to ensure Co-operation and Mutual Assistance in the Administration of Social Security Programmes in matters of mutual interest in the areas of fraud in their respective social security systems.
In addition, there is a Cross-Border Operational Forum, comprising senior fraud managers from the Department of Social Protection, the Department for Work and Pensions and the Northern Ireland Social Security Agency of the Department for Social Development. The Forum’s remit is to liaise at operational level and ensure that measures are in place to ensure effective co-operation, prevention and detection of fraud .
Case by case data-matching takes places between the Department of Social Protection and the Department of Social Development (DSD) in Northern Ireland on cases where social welfare fraud or abuse is occurring. In 2011, 4,288 checks were carried out by the DSD on behalf of the DSP. Similarly, 2,716 checks were carried out by the DSP on behalf of the DSD for the same year.
The Department’s Special Investigation works with other agencies such as Revenue, National Employment Rights Authority, Customs and the Gardaí and ensures that control activity is being targeted at high risk categories of claimants/employers. There is an active and ongoing relationship between the Department’s SIU officers and their counterparts in the Fraud Investigation Service in Northern Ireland.
An annual Summer School is run jointly by the Department of Social Protection and the Department of Social Development, Northern Ireland. This year marked the 13th anniversary of this very successful joint event. The School is residential and takes place over the period of one week. It is hosted in turn by each Department, and held in Dublin and Belfast on alternate years. Twenty four staff from each Department are invited to attend. Lectures and study group sessions held throughout the week provide an opportunity for staff to come together in a university environment to explore issues of social policy facing their Departments and their societies in general. In the Department of Social Protection, staff of the following grades are invited to apply for a place on the School; Staff Officer, Executive Officer, Higher Executive Officer and Administrative Officer. All administration in relation to the Summer School is managed by a small team of staff in both Departments who liaise regularly.
The Department does not have any unit dealing exclusively with co-operation with Northern Ireland. Officers contact Northern authorities as required as part of their normal responsibilities. Given the manner in which contacts with Northern Ireland take place and the wide number of people involved it would not be possible to quantify the actual staff numbers and time involved.
