David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)

Will the Minister clarify the difference between an advance and an overpayment? Is the Minister aware and did his Department take cognisance of the Social Welfare (Code of Practice on the Recovery of Overpayments) Regulations 1996 when this action was taken? For instance, did the Minister and his officials note the requirement in these regulations that where an overpayment has been assessed against a welfare recipient, he or she should be advised of the factors that gave rise to it, advised of the amount involved and the proposed method of repayment and afforded an opportunity to bring to the Department's notice any views he or she wishes to offer on the assessment of the overpayment, proposed method of repayment and any facts or circumstances he or she considers relevant to the repayment of the overpayment? In addition, under the regulations, repayment of an overpayment may be deferred where the person liable is unable to do so at the time.

The Minister has acknowledged this issue may have caused hardship. However, the regulations exist within the Department to deal with such occurrences. I do not agree with the Minister that it is a case of an advance rather an overpayment. The former is a new term, conveniently trotted out to alleviate the consequences of this mistake. This was an overpayment whereby people received more than they were entitled to in that particular week. Why were the relevant regulations not followed?

Why were people not advised of their rights in this matter to communicate with the Department as to how the money could be paid back? If recipients decided, for example, to use all the money in one week to pay a bill, they were left with nothing for the following week. Is the Department entitled not to make a payment on a week in which they are entitled to that payment? I understood a person was entitled to receive a payment each week from the Department and the latter does not have the right to stop a payment, as happened in this case, because of an overpayment. Are the relevant regulations still in force and have they been consulted? If the Minister was aware of them at the time, why did he not bring them to the notice of the social welfare customers involved?

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