Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 18 January 2024

Public Accounts Committee

Appropriation Accounts 2022
Vote 37 - Social Protection
Social Insurance Fund 2022
Report on the Accounts of the Public Services 2022
Chapter 13 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 14 - Ex gratia Payments of €1.4 million to Social Welfare Branch Managers
Chapter 15 - Raising Social Welfare Overpayments
Chapter 16 - Recovery of Welfare Overpayments
Chapter 17 - Actuarial Review of the Social Insurance Fund

9:30 am

Mr. John McKeon:

We need to be careful about this because communications campaigns can be misinterpreted. There was a famous one a number of years ago. We are looking at doing a communications campaign whereby we say, "Remember, if you are in receipt of a means-tested payment and your circumstances change, please tell the Department." That has to be done very sensitively. We do not want to be seen to be accusing people. We might be able to do it in a targeted way through social media or some mechanism like that, but, again, it is a matter of getting that balance. I refer to people on disability payments in particular. I understand it. I myself would probably feel that way if I got a letter saying, "Please submit all your earnings." I would say, "I am disabled. How do they think I have changed?" Actually, however, people do change.