Ms Niamh O'Donoghue:

I thank the committee for allowing me to make a brief opening statement. As well as examining the appropriation account for the Department of Social Protection and the Social Insurance Fund, SIF, statutory account for 2013, I understand that the committee wishes to examine the three chapters relevant to the Department that were in the Comptroller and Auditor General's annual report for 2013.

As requested, last week I provided the committee with an update on the recommendations contained in the three chapters together with up-to-date expenditure figures, the provisional outturn for 2014 and estimates for 2015. I also supplied a copy of our annual report 2014, the 2015-17 statement of strategy and the 2014 progress report on the compliance and anti-fraud strategy. Overall, I hope that these documents indicate the scale and scope of the Department's work.

In summary, the work of the Department continues to focus on three key functions, those being, income support, activation of those of working age and control of fraud and abuse. A long-standing primary objective of the social welfare system has been the provision of income supports. Activation places a particular emphasis on measures to help long-term and young unemployed people to find a route back to employment. The development of Intreo and active case management in particular play a vital part in ensuring that the Pathways to Work approach is a success. In this regard, the Department is progressing a new initiative, JobPath, which is aimed at assisting those who are long-term unemployed in returning to the labour force.

Public confidence and trust in the welfare system requires us to be vigilant in tackling fraudulent activity. However, let me be clear, in that the Department considers that the majority of people who are supported by the Department are exercising their legitimate rights and receiving their appropriate entitlements.

I will turn specifically to the chapters in the report. Regarding the regularity of social welfare payments, the Department seeks to ensure that social welfare fraud and abuse is minimised and that its control activity is focused appropriately. Fraud and error surveys play a key part in this activity. The main objective in carrying out fraud and error surveys is to identify categories of cases on a particular scheme that present the highest risk of abuse. Where necessary, control policies for all of the schemes that are surveyed are enhanced as a result of the findings to strengthen the controls that are in place.

The Department is completing two surveys of illness benefit and invalidity pension, each of which incorporates a medical eligibility element. We expect to complete the surveys in mid-2015 and copies of the results will be forwarded to the Comptroller and Auditor General and this committee. In terms of future surveys, under the 2014-18 compliance and anti-fraud strategy, the Department is committed to undertaking at least two fraud and error surveys each year up to the end of 2017. The Department is also developing predictive analytics models for three of its main working age schemes, those being, jobseeker's, one-parent family and disability allowance. Existing customer information is being used to build analytics models with the aim of detecting more risky and non-compliant cases more efficiently. The project will also assist in identifying trends and improving processes and controls across the Department. The jobseeker's model will be rolled out in September.

Regarding the control of supplementary welfare allowances, these allowances are an important safety net within the overall welfare system. The main purpose of the scheme is to provide immediate and flexible assistance to persons whose means are insufficient to meet their needs and those of their dependants. Since the transfer of the CWS to the Department, a more integrated approach to service delivery and control, particularly for working age payments, including supplementary welfare allowances, has been evident. The restructuring of the CWS and the consolidation of smaller clinics into larger centres has allowed for greater uniformity in claims handling, better customer service and improved controls, transparency and consistency.

The Department is committed to strengthening controls in the administration of supplementary welfare allowances and the ongoing audit and inspection programmes undertaken by the Department's internal audit and internal control support units provide valuable support to the Department in this regard. Learning from these audits and inspections has improved overall claims handling and compliance with procedures. The integrated decisions teams operating in Intreo centres and the ongoing review of staff guidance in respect of supplementary welfare allowance schemes has further enhanced controls and consistency of application. The Department is also committed to undertaking a fraud and error survey on basic supplementary welfare allowances during 2016.

Farm assist is an income support scheme for low-income farmers that was introduced in 1999. The number of recipients under this scheme fell by approximately 5% from 2013 to 2014. The falling numbers reflect the general rise in employment. The Comptroller and Auditor General, as part of his recommendations on this chapter, suggested a review of the operation of key controls. I am happy to report that the Department has reviewed and updated the main review and assessment forms used in the scheme. It has also taken measures to improve the annual review process. The Department plans to commence the fraud and error survey on the farm assist scheme in June 2015. The survey will be used to identify the level of risk associated with the scheme with a view to designing review processes and control measures specifically targeted to minimise the level of future risk.

I wish to draw the committee's attention to a number of specific areas of current work, namely, the back to school clothing and footwear allowance for 2015, the back to work family dividend, the rent supplement arrangements and the water conservation grant, which we are administering on behalf of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government.

We have arranged a departmental briefing on these areas for all Oireachtas Members on 11 June and we will send out notification of that shortly.

The staff of the Department are dealing with many demanding challenges to provide our customers with a professional service across the many schemes and programmes we deliver. I am keen to acknowledge their support and co-operation as we all endeavour to deliver and continually improve our services.

I am happy to discuss any issues or proposals raised by the committee.