Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 1 December 2022

Public Accounts Committee

2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Social Protection - Social Insurance Fund 2021
Chapter 10: Regularity of social welfare payments
Chapter 11: The recovery of benefit and assistance payments following compensation awards
Chapter 14: Classification of workers for PRSI purposes

9:30 am

Photo of Catherine MurphyCatherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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The difficulty arises if somebody finds themselves in opposition. It is indeterminate and can be an impediment to that individual. I will leave that aspect there, but I will come back to it with someone else in the future.

On the recovery of welfare payments after compensation, is there a plan? Obviously, that it is not itemised in settlements appears to be one of the reasons. If someone gets a lower settlement than the amount of welfare paid, it is very understandable that there is not likely to be a liability if that is the case. Is that how Mr. McKeon reads it? Is the Department talking to the Department of Justice about the gap in how those settlements are described in order that there is not a situation where the Department finds that it cannot determine the amount?