GOVERNMENT MEASURES aimed at cracking down on social welfare fraud are set to yield about €100 million less than expected.
The Department of Social and Family Affairs estimated it would save a total of €616 million by the end of this year. This followed the introduction of stricter identity checks and the recruitment of additional social welfare inspectors.
However, a spokeswoman for Minister for Social and Family Affairs Mary Hanafin confirmed yesterday that it is on target to save just over €500 million by the end of this year.
It is the second year in a row that anticipated anti-fraud measures have yielded significantly less savings than expected. A spokeswoman for Ms Hanafin said welfare officials were due to meet their targets for the number of welfare checks carried out, but these were yielding less savings than expected.
More than 600,000 claims, across all schemes, have been reviewed so far this year, including medical checks and certification for non-Irish nationals to prove continued entitlement to child benefit.
Less fraud has been evident among people claiming unemployment benefit, due possibly to the lack of work available and the profile of new claimants, according to officials.
However, the level of fraud for other welfare schemes, such as illness or disability payments, is at expected levels.
Despite the underestimate in savings, officials insist it will not place additional pressure on the public finances. A spokeswoman said the €100 million figure can be offset against savings made in less than expected numbers signing on for unemployment benefit this year.
The increase in numbers signing on the Live Register has also put pressure on staffing resources, particularly on social welfare inspectors who are responsible for carrying out means tests on applicants and conducting anti-fraud inspections, according to the department. Additional staff have been assigned to frontline work, including an increased number of inspectors.
The department’s underestimate of fraud savings is similar to last year. In 2008 it estimated it would save €511 million but ended up recouping €476 million, some €60 million below target.
In that year, thousands of planned checks on welfare recipients did not take place because inspectors were diverted to process a major increase in the number of unemployment benefit claims.
Next year, officials have set a target of saving about €533 million. The department says the use of a new “public service card” with photo ID will assist in tackling fraud.
In a statement, Ms Hanafin said: “Fraud is theft and the Department of Social and Family Affairs takes fraud control very seriously. Savings of €500 million have been secured this year by clamping down on fraud and abuse and we will continue to pursue new methods of identifying fraud next year.”
The battle against fraud has also shifted focus towards the prevention of fraud when applications are made for welfare benefits.
Officials say savings made from the detection of bogus claims at application stage cannot be estimated, as the claim does not go into payment.
However, this is the most cost-effective mechanism of reducing losses through fraud and error in social welfare schemes.
In relation to pursuing perpetrators of social welfare fraud, the department has taken steps to prosecute about 380 cases so far this year.