Ms Niamh O'Donoghue:

It is disappointing but I point the Deputy to the history of this scheme. The Department took responsibility for its operation, formally, from the beginning of 2012. Integration of the community welfare service into the Department is an ongoing process. It has meant a radical shift in our business models, locations, processes and procedures. It is disappointing to see the findings of the Comptroller and Auditor General. As he highlighted, they were findings echoed in our own internal audit, or internal control support unit, ICSU, approaches.

However, we have made significant efforts to try to put in place new structures to improve training, increase the kind of reporting and risk assessment attached to this scheme, make sure the guidelines have been updated and are clear, provide training to the officers involved, improve the management controls in place and put in place the supports for officers in doing their jobs, which enables them to comply with the procedures that should be there in the first place. I am confident that the efforts that have been made, particularly since the Comptroller and Auditor General's audit, will pay dividends. We have stated already that we will look at supplementary welfare assistance in the context of a future fraud and error survey. We expect that practices and the culture around the scheme will have changed by the time we carry out the survey.