Mr. Liam Daly:

There are two aspects, the first of which is recovery. Attempts to recover have to take account of the person's ability to repay. We cannot put people under undue hardship. An overpayment is written off or partially written off in circumstances where there is no prospect of future recovery.

The net value of write-offs in 2021 was just under €33 million. This included a one-off sanction from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform for €27 million in respect of debts of just under €10,000 where the debts had been raised before 2014, recovery actions had been suspended and no repayments had been received since 1 January 2016. They were not active cases. We also have delegated sanction to write off cases involving small-value overpayments of under €100 where their recovery is not economic; debts associated with deceased cases where the estate recovery actions have ceased; where the remaining balance of the debt is economically irrecoverable, that is, where the debt has been more than 80% recovered and the outstanding balance is under a certain amount; debts where recovery would impose demonstrable financial and-or social hardship on the person; debts where a person has been judged bankrupt; and where debts are so large that full recovery is unlikely over the life expectancy of the debtor.