The recently established Advisory Group on Tax and Social Welfare should investigate the discrepancy between the quantity of Personal Public Service (PPS) numbers in circulation and population figures, which is 2.62 million, Fine Gael Senator Fidelma Healy Eames has said.
It was revealed this week there were 7.2 million PPS numbers for a population of only 4.58 million. Ms Healy Eames, Fine Gael spokeswoman on Social Protection in the Seanad, said this provided strong potential for welfare abuse.
She has written to group chairwoman barrister Ita Mangan suggesting a “social welfare income cap” on households to stem “social welfare reliance at an intergenerational level”.
