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Social Welfare Fraud Cost

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 April 2013

Tuesday, 16 April 2013

Questions (591)

Terence Flanagan

Question:

591. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Social Protection if there are any plans to introduce fingerprint technology in her Department to assist with investigating fraudulent claims; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16379/13]

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Written answers

In conjunction with a number of other Government Departments, my Department has developed a Public Services Card (PSC) under the Standard Authentication Framework Environment (SAFE) Programme, the main objective being to develop a common standard across public services for establishing and authenticating identity.

The roll-out of the PSC is well underway and will continue for a number of years. The robust registration process, leading to the issuing of a PSC which incorporates both a person’s photograph and signature, gives significant assurance as to the identity of the cardholder. From the Department's perspective, as well as combating identity fraud, the PSC will replace cards currently in use, such as the Social Services Card and the Free Travel Card, with a highly secure card.

Fingerprints, eye retinas and irises, voice patterns, facial patterns and hand measurements are classed as biometric information. This is information about human body characteristics and it is typically used for authentication purposes. The data that the PSC can store can include biometric information.

Biometric data does not, of itself, eliminate fraud. What it can do is associate a particular individual with a particular set of human characteristics. The selected biometric information can later be obtained from the individual and checked against the stored information, thus confirming that the same individual provided both sets of information. Any relying system would need secure registration and identification processes and the ability to read and measure biometric information throughout. The cost of this infrastructure would be dependent on the specific biometric selected but as the infrastructure (readers etc.) would need to be widely deployed, it would be significant. In summary, the PSC itself can support the use of biometrics but there are many other issues to be considered.

Existing legislation in the context of the PSC does not provide for biometrics and currently there are no plans to alter that. These provisions do, however, provide for the collection and storage of photographs or images and, in this context, the Department has recently deployed a facial image matching software to help detect and deter duplicate SAFE registrations. Where a match or a potential match is discovered, the relevant records will be referred to an officer in the Department's Client Identity Services Division for investigation and resolution. Processes have also been put in place to refer suspected cases of identity fraud to the Department's Special Investigation Unit, if required.

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