Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 21 March 2024
239. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will advise on the last review carried out by her Department with regard to lone parent allowance recipients; and if she will provide figures from review decisions, in tabular form. [13342/24]
View answerTo 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 my department’s schemes, including One Parent Family Payment, are subject to on-going control reviews and eligibility checks.
During 2023, just over 28,000 control reviews were carried out on the One Parent Family Payment scheme. To end of February 2024 just over 4,600 control reviews have been carried out. Overpayments arising from these reviews are set out below.
|
- |
One Parent Family Overpayments Raised |
|
|
Year |
Cases |
Value |
|
2023 |
2,805 |
€4,779,007 |
|
To End Feb 24 |
572 |
€1,009,280 |
Customers 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.
Where an overpayment is raised, the Department makes every effort to recover the amount overpaid. Recovery can be sought over a period without imposing undue financial hardship on the customer. The Department will work with the customer and consider personal circumstances in determining a repayment plan.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
