Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 March 2015
174. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she reserves the legal right to overrule the decision of her Department, in the case of individual social protection issues, such as cases of overclaiming if there are exceptional hardship cases involved; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9289/15]
View answerPeople who have received an overpayment from the Department have a liability under law to refund the overpayment as they have received money to which they were not entitled. (Section 338 of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 2005 (as amended) refers). My Department has a responsibility to ensure that all overpayments are refunded in full.
Social welfare overpayments arise where a revised decision is made by a deciding officer on a claimant’s entitlement resulting in a retrospective reduction in their entitlement. In deciding whether or not the decision should have retrospective effect, deciding officers are required to have regard to the facts relevant to the decision on entitlement. Founding their decision on facts will ensure that the deciding officers’ actions can result in the Department pursuing all debts.
Once a revised decision on entitlement has been made, the person is informed of the decision and has the right to have the decision reviewed by the Department or to appeal the decision to the independently established Social Welfare Appeals Office. The person is also notified of any resulting overpayment and is informed of the requirement that the overpayment be repaid in full to the Department.
When determining the rate of recovery of an overpayment, consideration is given to getting repayment as soon as possible, while not causing undue hardship to the person, having regard to the circumstances that gave rise to the overpayment, as well as the person’s circumstances and their overall ability to pay. The person is provided with the opportunity to put forward any circumstances that they feel may be relevant to the rate of recovery proposed. Any circumstances put forward by the person will be considered in the context of agreeing a recovery plan.
I am confident that there are robust measures in place in my Department so that the occurrence of overpayments is minimised and I am continuously seeking to enhance these controls. However, where overpayments do occur they must be recovered.
Question No. 175 withdrawn.
