Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 11 Dec 2001

Vol. 546 No. 3

Written Answers. - Social Welfare Payments.

Ivor Callely

Ceist:

62 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the number of social welfare recipients for whom payment is being reduced due to an earlier overpayment; the estimated number of overpayment cases arising from departmental error; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31360/01]

Trevor Sargent

Ceist:

292 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the reason his Department has considerable problems with accidental overpayments; and the further reason more than £50 million of overpayments had not been disposed of by the end of 2000. [31666/01]

Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs (Mr. D. Ahern)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 62 and 292 together.

Overpayments are set up as a result of fraud, failure by recipients to report changes in their circumstances or departmental error. During 2000, 33,362 recipients of social welfare payments were assessed with overpayments of £21.25 million or 26.98 million in respect of moneys received to which they were subsequently deemed not to have been entitled.

Of these, 2,578, 7.7%, cases with a value of £800,600, which is under 4% of the total overpayments, arises in cases where, for instance, a person on unemployment payments returns to work but payment of benefit has issued before the notification is received. The bulk of such overpayments do not arise by reason of staff error.

It is my Department's policy to endeavour to recover all moneys incorrectly paid and every effort is made to recover overpayments in full having regard to the provisions of a code of practice which is in place to regulate this process. Where a person who has incurred an overpayment is in receipt of a social welfare payment there is provision to recover the overpayment by periodic deduction from current payments and the vast majority of overpayments recovered in this way. During 2000, deductions were made from the payments of some 33,000 social welfare recipients who had incurred earlier overpayments.

The method and pace of overpayment recovery is determined having regard to the individual circumstances of those who have been overpaid and the amounts of periodic deductions are determined so as not to cause hardship. In a great many cases, therefore, recovery of the overpayment continues over a long period of years and this is the determining factor in the level of overpayments not disposed of. Where, however, a person has substantial resources, a more vigorous approach is adopted, sometimes culminating in civil proceedings for recovery. Where an overpayment was due to departmental error, there is provision to consider its reduction or cancellation, depending on the circumstances of the case.