Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Not necessarily. The fact is that more than 90% of social welfare overpayments are caused by failure to inform the Department of changes in circumstances. The majority of cases are dealt with in a speedy, efficient and fair manner. In specific individual cases there may be glitches within the system. If the Deputy wishes to point out those specific glitches with individuals, I would be very happy to sit down with him and listen to those.

Section 342A was introduced in 2011 to deal with revised decisions which were made on the basis that the claimant made false or misleading statements or representations or wilfully concealed the facts. It provides that where a revised decision is made and that decision results in an overpayment arising from the fraudulent claim of a social welfare payment, the person cannot be given the benefit of any alternative social welfare payment to which they may have been entitled during the period of the fraudulent overpayment. Each claimant has the right to a review or appeal when the decisions are made by the Department. In making a revised decision, the deciding officer must demonstrate how he or she arrived at that decision and what evidence was taken into account in coming to that decision. Guidelines on the conditions that must be satisfied in the various schemes are published and are widely available to the public. The purpose of section 8 is to clarify the operation of section 342A.

Section 8 provides that for the purposes of section 342A, an overpayment can relate to periods during which a social welfare payment has been made following a fraudulent claim or whether that period occurred before 29 June 2011, the date of enactment of section 342A, or after that date. It is important that where a claimant has been overpaid, they know they have a responsibility to repay and the Department will take appropriate steps to obtain recovery. A person who has been overpaid has a liability to refund the overpayment as that person has received money to which he or she is not entitled.

Like Deputy Willie O'Dea, no one in this room encourages or supports fraudulent social welfare claims. However, we need robust systems in place. I take on board a number of points made by Deputies but if there are specific issues, the Department is happy to deal with them.