Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 November 2012
413. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of instances wherein an overpayment has been discovered in respect of particular social welfare payments in each of the past three years to date; the number of cases in respect of which any underpayment has been discovered in the same period; the action taken in respect of both categories; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50141/12]
View answerOverpayments are generally defined as “money obtained contrary to or in excess of a valid decision”. An overpayment is any social welfare assistance or benefit payment which the person who received the amount was not entitled to receive. An overpayment is assessed for the period that a person was not entitled to a payment and the recovery of the overpayment is followed up by the relevant section of the Department. The number of cases of overpayment of social welfare payments in each of the past three years is outlined as follows:
|
Year |
Number of cases of overpayment |
|
2009 |
42,500 |
|
2010 |
52.600 |
|
2011 |
63,330 |
The Department is not in a position to publicly report overpayments recorded to date in 2012 as these figures form part of the statutory accounts of the Department and are subject to audit by the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General. My Department does not maintain statistics on the level of underpayments.
As Minister, I am very conscious of the need to protect public money. An important aspect of my Department’s control policy is to ensure that there is an effective debt recovery regime. Every effort is made to prevent overpayments, but if they occur, they are regarded as a debt to the Exchequer and every effort is made to recover the amount involved.
