Overpayments of social welfare entitlements can occur where a person provides false or misleading information in their application or through error on the part of either the claimant or the Department. Persons who have been overpaid social welfare have a liability to refund the overpayment as they have been in receipt of a payment to which they were not entitled. In 2022 the total value of overpayments - as a percentage of total scheme expenditure - was approximately 0.42%.
The table below sets out the number of overpayments raised and the associated value of those cases where an element of fraudulent activity was suspected. These cases arise where a deciding officer is satisfied that there is sufficient evidence that a person deliberately provided false or misleading information or willfully concealed relevant information in relation to their entitlement. The Deputy will appreciate that there is a high evidential standard to be met in such cases.
|
Year
|
No. of Cases
|
Value of Overpayments
|
|
2018
|
7,766
|
€29,740,268
|
|
2019
|
6,963
|
€31,356,136
|
|
2020
|
5,338
|
€20,253,317
|
|
2021
|
6,290
|
€19,014,828
|
|
2022
|
5,597
|
€19,635,546
|
For the years 2018 to 2022, on average, the schemes with the highest number of cases where an element of fraudulent activity is suspected are: Jobseekers payments (67% of cases); Illness Benefit (8% of cases); Child Benefit (7% of cases); One parent family (4% of cases); Supplementary Welfare Allowance (2% of cases); Disability Allowance (1% of cases); and State Pensions (1% of cases). The remaining 10% of cases are spread across a number of schemes. During 2021 the Pandemic Unemployment Payment accounted for 7% of the overall cases for that year, and for 10% of cases in 2022.
Just under 7% of the overall number of cases (circa 2,100 of just under 32,000 cases) during the period in question were cases where the person was deemed to be absent from the State. 76% of these related to Child Benefit claims; 11% related to jobseekers’ claims; 4% related to Disability Allowance claims; and the remaining 9% of cases are spread across a number of other schemes. It is not possible to provide a breakdown by country.
My Department carries out a range of control measures across all its schemes to prevent, detect and deter fraud. These includes checks both at the award stage and subsequent reviews. Control reviews across all schemes, include data matching with Departmental and other records; seeking confirmation of ongoing eligibility from claimants; and home visits by Social Welfare Inspectors where this is considered necessary. To the end of August 2023, provisional figures indicate that just over 475,000 reviews of social welfare claims have been undertaken, resulting in savings of just over €361million.
My Department does not comment in relation to the detail of ongoing investigations. In any event, it would not be possible to state that there is suspected fraudulent activity in any case until the full facts of an investigation are known.
In relation to the cost to the State of all fraudulent claims, the control process is an integral part of the day-to-day operations of the Department and all staff members involved in the administration of the various social welfare schemes have obligations to protect the integrity of the social welfare system.
It is not possible to disaggregate the cost of tackling social welfare fraud from the overall administration costs of the Department given that many of the tasks associated with the control and anti-fraud measures are an inherent element of the roles of social welfare officials.
I trust that this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
