Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 17 January 2024
976. Deputy Frankie Feighan asked the Minister for Social Protection the savings achieved by her Department arising from control work in respect of jobseekers allowance payments for each year between 2013-2023; the savings she estimates her Department will achieve in 2024 from control measures in relation to long term jobseekers allowance payments, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1683/24]
View answerIn order to protect the integrity of the social welfare system and to ensure that the right person is paid the right amount of money at the right time, all of my Department’s schemes, including Jobseeker's payments, are subject to on-going control reviews and eligibility checks. As a result of these control reviews, some payments may be reduced or stopped and in these cases a control saving is recorded.
Control savings represent the value of any overpayment debt raised and the value of future payments that would have been incurred if investigative and control work had not been carried out across the Department's schemes. They are used as a performance indicator for year-on-year activities.
The control savings recorded for Jobseekers allowance for the years 2013-2023 are set out below.
Year Total savings €m
2013 €110.89
2014 €122.00
2015 €116.86
2016 €158.30
2017 €140.03
2018 €163.39
2019 €133.73
2020 €54.42
2021 €74.19
2022 €91.22
2023 €113.87
A significant number of reviews are carried out each year by my Department on foot of challenging targets and taking account of the risks associated with particular schemes. A similar approach will be undertaken for 2024, including in relation to targets. However, final outturns are subject to a variety of factors. Progress on achieving targets is monitored on an ongoing basis.
I trust that this clarifies matters for the Deputy.
