asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he intends to undertake a publicity campaign to gain support in preventing fraud and in identifying areas of abuse in the social welfare system.
Written Answers. - Social Welfare Anti-Fraud Measures.
39.
At this time I do not consider that a publicity campaign on fraud and abuse in the social welfare system would serve any useful purpose. This could be quite an expensive undertaking and rather than embark on such a campaign my priority task is to put in place various structures, controls, procedures and working methods including those recommended by Craig Gardner in the Review of Payment Systems in my Department. This is well under way.
The publicity surrounding the anti-fraud contained in the Social Welfare (No. 2) Act, 1987 and our successes in tackling abuse of the social welfare system in the past year have done much to enrol the support of the general public in curbing fraud and abuse in the social welfare system.
It is my intention to continue a balanced public relations policy on abuse by supplying information on the level of abuse and our progress in tackling it. At the same time I will be highlighting the fact that the vast majority of social welfare claimants are genuine and that the measures we will be taking to curb abuse will also improve the quality of service to genuine claimants.
The effectiveness of the new control measures will be kept under review and if the results of the reviews indicate that the controls need to be supplemented by more active co-operation from the public, the question of a public relations campaign will then be considered.