Committee of Public Accounts: Assessors responsible for the dispersal of some €13.5 million in Government flood relief believed that up to one in 10 claimants did not tell the truth when they sought money from the Irish Red Cross, it has emerged.
The Comptroller and Auditor General, Mr John Purcell, told a meeting of the Committee of Public Accounts that the scheme, which followed severe flooding in February and November of 2002, was operated "primarily on trust".
Mr Purcell said he was not suggesting that the trust was misplaced but said the scheme demanded a "more systematic approach" from the perspective of financial control.
Among the attempts to make fraudulent claims was a case in which one person sought some €85,000 for damages to their home.
Mr Purcell said it emerged that the person's marriage was in difficulty at the time. The person's spouse later produced documents indicating that they had lodged an insurance claim for €85,000.
"The assessor reckoned that 90 per cent of the people were telling the truth," he said.
The committee was discussing a report into the relief scheme by Mr Purcell in which he pointed out that up to 58 per cent of claimants were insured.
The chairman of the Office of Public Works, Mr Sean Benton, said there was no evidence to suggest that insurers did not have to pay claims because people had received money from the State. "We would have heard if that was happening."
After Mr Purcell's report pointed out that no formal procedures were established to check the accuracy of applicants' claims that they had no insurance, Mr Benton said the OPW was concerned to respond quickly to the hardship encountered after the floods.
The OPW "was careful not to over-complicate the operation of the schemes by applying detailed application and verification procedures which might have delayed the delivery of much-needed aid".
Mr Benton said each case was assessed on its own merits by the Red Cross.
"The fact that any applicant may be insured does not mean that they are immune from distress or financial loss.
"The Red Cross assessors make a judgment based on the particular circumstances of each case. I have absolute confidence in the integrity and fairness of this process."
He was satisfied "at all times" with the administration of the scheme by the Red Cross. "The purpose was to provide aid on a humanitarian basis - not compensation for losses."
Cork Fianna Fáil TD Mr John Dennehy said it would be "ludicrous" that people should not receive aid just because their homes were insured.