Seanad report: Anti-fraud measures taken by the Department of social and Family Affairs had resulted in savings of €27 million in January of this year, the Minister, Séamus Brennan, told the House. That was 82 per cent of the Department's target, he added.
Speaking in the committee stage debate on the Social Welfare and Pensions Bill, the Minister said the Department was quite ruthless when it came to fraud, because the people being robbed were those in need of welfare funds. Anti-fraud and control measures had resulted in €386 million being held back last year. On unemployment claims €120 million had been taken back; on one-parent families €110 million; €18 million on child benefit; and €55 million on illness.
There had been more than 300,000 reviews. A total of 503 cases had been forwarded to the Chief State Solicitor's Office.
Of the proceedings, 282 cases had been finalised in court, 10 resulting in prison sentences and 26 in suspended terms. Fines had been imposed in 158 cases and community service orders in a further three.
The Probation Offenders Act had been applied in 43 cases.
Margaret Cox (FF) said she had recently become aware of at least two cases of incredible abuse of the social welfare system in the Galway area, which she had reported to the appropriate authority. Given the changes that had taken place in the system over the last number of years, there was a huge black market "in the whole area of receiving PPNS numbers and then selling them on".