Mr. John McKeon:

In terms of the write-off in each of the last two years, 2015 and 2016, it was a relatively low amount that was written off compared to previous years.

We can see the trend with the figure of €17.5 million on page 231 of the Comptroller and Auditor General's report. Therefore, the amounts being written off have reduced. I mentioned in my opening statement that I currently have a proposal on my desk which I am examining. We had to get permission for write-offs from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and I will be bringing forward a proposal to increase the number of write-offs.

On the specific point regarding delays, if we are going to chase a client for repayment, we have to be clear that it will stand up in court. We have to be clear that it would stand up if the client appealed to the Ombudsman. It can arise that a client would walk into one of our Intreo centres and tell a member of staff that his or her means have changed, but the claim might refer to disability allowance which is dealt with in Longford. There can be delays in getting that information from an office in the country to Longford. Those delays should not happen. I acknowledge that they are process failure but, given the scale of our operations, they do happen. In those kinds of situations, even if there is an overpayment, it would be wrong of us to go after the client. I do not think the Ombudsman or the courts would support us if we did. We would be saying that we were told in week 10 about a change in means but that it took us until week 20 to do anything about it. Ergo, we cannot do anything about week 10 to week 20 because we knew it for ten weeks without doing anything. It is in those situations that we would write off the debt.

The other issue concerns estate cases. Most of the write-offs in the year related to estate cases. Even though there was a write-off against the estate, in reality the estate did not have the funds to repay the amount.