asked the Minister for Social Welfare the amount of money claimed by his Department under section 19 of the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1960.
Written Answers. - Notification of Assets.
31.
The provisions referred to by the Deputy were consolidated in section 174 of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1981.
These provisions relate to the obligation placed on the personal representative of a person, who at any time was in receipt of pension, to notify the Minister of his intention to distribute the assets of the person. This enables the Minister to review cases in order to determine whether pension was properly payable having regard to the assets disclosed.
Where a personal representative fails to notify the Minister in any such case he becomes personally liable for an amount equal to the pension overpaid within the limits of the amounts available for distribution.
It is not, however, possible to give the information sought by the Deputy as amounts recovered in this way are not recorded separately from amounts recovered from the estates of all deceased persons.