I propose to take Questions Nos. 247 to 251, inclusive, together.
The Department of Social Protection receives reports of possible fraud from members of the public in relation to the operation of its schemes. A dedicated phone number and a facility on the Department’s website is available for this purpose. It should be borne in mind that while there is often a perception of fraud, when a case is examined the individual may, in fact, be doing something that is allowed under the rules of the particular payment that they are receiving. For example, a person can work and receive a One-Parent Family Payment, provided their earnings are within the limits and the Department is aware of the situation.
All anonymous or confidential reports are examined and, where relevant, are referred to scheme areas or inspectors for follow-up action. While a payment is not suspended or stopped on the basis of an anonymous report, the report may, however, “trigger” a review of a customer’s entitlement. Anonymous reports are not available to Deciding Officers when they are making their decisions on cases. The Deciding Officer’s decision must be based on the full facts and circumstances of the case and, as a result, statistics are not available on the outcome of anonymous reports. The following are the number of anonymous reports received in the Department’s Control Division in the period 2011 to 2013:
-
|
2011
|
2012
|
2013
|
Total
|
16,917
|
28,022
|
24,720
|
There were 22,420 reports processed in 2013. A report of suspected fraud was referred to the relevant area for examination in 15,431 of these cases and 6,989 other cases were not referred for various reasons such as, not possible to process due to lack of information, no claim being in payment or the information reported had no impact on entitlement.
The following is the scheme breakdown of the reports referred to scheme areas for further investigation:
Scheme Breakdown
|
No.
|
Jobseekers cases (include JA & JB)
|
6,196
|
SWA
|
3,177
|
One-Parent Family cases (include WOPS)
|
3,892
|
Illness
|
2,151
|
Child Benefit
|
462
|
Other
|
3,462
|
Total
|
19,340
|
The total scheme breakdown is more than the 15,431 cases referred as some clients may be in receipt of more than one payment.
As outlined above, anonymous reports are used to “trigger” or instigate investigations but they do not form any part of the evidence and are not taken into account when the review of the customer’s payment is being decided. Therefore, detailed statistics of the timeframe taken to investigate anonymous reports, the number of investigations pending or the outcomes of anonymous reports are unavailable. Furthermore, anonymous or confidential reports of abuse do not form any part of the evidence when a case is being considered for prosecution.