THOUSANDS OF planned anti-fraud checks on welfare recipients did not take place last year because inspectors were diverted to process unemployment benefit claims.
New figures show the number of reviews of child benefit claims, for example, fell short of official targets by about 13,000, while the number of reviews of other welfare benefits was also lower than anticipated.
In total, Government measures aimed at saving money on welfare fraud last year yielded almost €60 million less than expected.
During the last six months of 2008, social welfare inspectors who had been concentrating on fraud activity were diverted to help speed up the means-testing of welfare applicants.
This followed a dramatic increase in the number of people applying for the jobseekers’ benefit and allowance.
While Minister for Social and Family Affairs Mary Hanafin had projected savings of about €536 million for 2008, the department ended up saving about €476 million.
The biggest overall savings last year were on pensions (€223 million), one-parent family payments including widows (€142 million), followed by unemployment payments (€100 million), illness payments (€72 million) and child benefit (€47 million).
Officials say welfare inspectors have reverted back to their old positions in recent months following the recruitment of new welfare staff to process unemployment claims.
It anticipates a significant increase in the level of anti-fraud monitoring this year, with plans to treble the number of checks on child benefit recipients alone.
In 2008 a total of 87,850 reviews of child benefit claims were completed last year, compared to the 100,000-plus that were projected. A total of 5,141 child benefit claims were terminated as a result, resulting in savings of up to €47 million to the department.
Officials say that a total of almost 42,000 reviews have been undertaken this year already.
Ms Hanafin has said she hopes in excess of €500 million will be saved this year. She says prevention of fraud and abuse of the social welfare system is an integral part of the day-to-day work of the department.
“Over 600 staff at local, regional and national level are engaged on a full- or part-time basis on work related to the control of fraud and abuse,” she said recently.
“We are stepping up fraud control right across all of our schemes to ensure that the right payments are going to the right people for the duration they have an entitlement to it.”
While less was received last year than anticipated, officials have pointed out that plans to save €25 million in “targeted programmes” announced last July were achieved.
This year, Ms Hanafin has said members of the public will see a more visible form of investigation through the department’s participation in vehicle checkpoints. These are set up by the Garda and include others agencies such as the Revenue Commissioners.
Officials hope members of the public can help in the crackdown on fraud. There has been a dramatic rise in the number of reports being made by members of the public who allege social welfare fraud by neighbours and acquaintances in the first few months of this year.
In January and February some 500-plus tip-offs were given to the welfare fraud office of the department, up from more than 100 in the same period last year.