Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 September 2012
869. Deputy Paudie Coffey asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of social welfare offices that have been fitted with the technology to process the data on the new photo ID cards; if she will provide a list of these offices in a tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39211/12]
Amharc ar fhreagra870. Deputy Paudie Coffey asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide in tabular form the number of persons in each social welfare office that have been found to have been making fraudulent claims as a result of the new photo ID cards; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39212/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 869 and 870 together.
In conjunction with a number of other Government Departments, my Department has developed a Public Services Card (PSC) under the Standard Authentication Framework Environment (SAFE) Programme, the main objective being to develop a common standard across public services for establishing and authenticating identity. The rollout of the Public Services Card has recently commenced and SAFE registration facilities are currently being implemented across the Department. To date, SAFE registration stations have been installed in 29 offices nationally. The details are set out in the following table. Some 25,000 PSCs have been issued to clients of the Department, mostly jobseeker clients who are the first cohort of DSP customers to use the PSC.
The registration process is being built into the standard claim taking process for a number of schemes and in addition, some clients with existing claims are being invited to register. Over time, client groups for SAFE registration will be expanded to encompass all DSP scheme clients, clients of other public sector organisations, and across the general population of Ireland. The establishment of client identity has always been a vital part of the Department’s claim processes and any issues that arise in relation to identity are fully investigated in establishing entitlement to social welfare services.
While figures on the number of SAFE registrations directly linked with incidences of fraudulent claiming are not readily available to date, it is important to point out that considerable emphasis is being placed on the introduction of the card as a strategic fraud prevention and detection tool. There are a number of areas where fraud prevention and detection will be enhanced through PSC roll-out and these are set out below:
Identity fraud: Combating and preventing the use of dual or multiple identities to fraudulently claim social welfare payments; preventing the use of a false or duplicate identity to engage in concurrent working and claiming; payment Instrument: preventing and assisting in detecting identity fraud or false encashment at post offices.
Non-residency: preventing and detecting incidences of non-residency from the State. The card will be a more secure payment token than existing Social Services Card and for Post Office payments, it will help mitigate this problem.
|
Offices with SAFE Stations |
DSP Region |
|
King's Inn Street Local Office |
Dublin Central |
|
Tullamore PPSN |
Midlands South |
|
Sligo PPSN |
North West |
|
Arklow Local Office |
Mid Leinster |
|
Kings Inn Street PPSN |
Dublin Central |
|
Coolock Local Office |
Dublin North |
|
Dun Laoghaire Local Office |
Dublin South |
|
Ballyfermot Local Office |
Dublin South |
|
Finglas LO |
Dublin North |
|
Navan Road LO |
Dublin North |
|
Ballymun Local Office |
Dublin North |
|
Bishop Square LO |
Dublin Central |
|
Kilkenny PPSN |
Midlands South |
|
Killarney Local Office |
South West |
|
Newcastlewest Local Office |
Mid West |
|
Ennis PPSN |
Mid West |
|
Buncrana LO |
North West |
|
Letterkenny PPSN |
North West |
|
Letterkenny PSC Centre (Decentralised Office) * |
North West |
|
Athlone PPSN |
Midlands North |
|
Castlebar PPSN |
Western |
|
Gandon House PSC Centre (pilot) |
Dublin Central |
|
Tralee PPSN |
South West |
|
Longford PPSN |
Midlands North |
|
Clonmel PPSN |
Midlands South |
|
Dundalk PPSN |
North East |
|
Wexford Local Office |
South East |
|
Waterford PPSN |
South East |
|
Carrick-on-Shannon Local Office |
North West |
