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Departmental Equipment

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 29 January 2013

Tuesday, 29 January 2013

Questions (145)

Patrick O'Donovan

Question:

145. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide details on the progress made in improving the ICT capability of her Department to detect potential irregularities, over payments or fraud; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4030/13]

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Written answers

The Department of Social Protection has a number of systems which have been developed over many years to enable it to pay multiple groups of clients and to manage data in relation to its various schemes. These systems reliably deliver over 87 million payments yearly between them. Although developed independently, mechanisms exist on the major systems whereby significant changes made to customer or claim details are automatically notified to other relevant systems. The Department is working towards consolidation on a single ICT ‘platform’ - the Business Object Model implementation - BOMi. This work is carried out as part of the Department’s continuous Service Delivery Modernisation programme.

As this programme progresses, all of the Department’s client and claim related systems will be integrated on the BOMi platform, ensuring that all client and claim information is fully and automatically available across all of the Department’s schemes and places of business. Not only does the Department work with the information held by ourselves, we also recognise the value of working closely and collaboratively with other agencies to ensure that social welfare abuse is comprehensively detected and tackled. Over the last number of years we have been engaged in data matching exercises with other Government Departments and public bodies for control purposes. Data matching is viewed as an efficient and effective mechanism to target control related activity. I am satisfied that the Department’s systems communicate with each other and other bodies to share relevant information and this process will continue to be refined and expanded to meet control and other needs.

Question No. 146 answered with Question No. 135.
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