Ms Niamh O'Donoghue:

First, this is a relatively new venture which started at the end of 2014. Two years ago 20 gardaí were seconded to the Department of Social Protection to work in our special investigation unit. Their primary function is to detect social welfare fraud. They are an integral part of the unit and work with other officers in the unit. They work on joint investigations with Revenue or with the National Employment Rights Authority, NERA. They also assist in fraud investigation. A key priority of a joint operation is the shadow or hidden economy.

On the question of the value they have brought to the Department, it is two-fold, in addition to their powers under the social welfare Acts they have powers under the Garda Acts so we benefit from quicker investigation and detection of cases, more enhanced powers of investigation, transfer of knowledge skills and best practice. That means we can get more speedy access to the system of prosecution for serious cases than we would otherwise have been been able to do. This is quite apart from the normal savings that they would generate.