Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 79, 83 and 123 together.

The prevention of fraud and abuse of the social welfare system is an integral part of the day-to-day work of the Department. I am committed to ensuring that social welfare payments are available to those who are entitled to them. I am also determined to ensure that abuse of the system is prevented and is dealt with effectively when detected.

All child benefit claims require a minimum level of information and documentation to be provided and verified before being awarded. The amount of information and documentation required varies depending on the customer circumstances, for instance, the child's place of birth. Given the significant changes in the child benefit customer base and in the value of child benefit payments, the control policy for the child benefit scheme and, consequently, the early child care supplement, ECS, scheme, has been reviewed to ensure that controls against fraud and abuse of the schemes continue to be effective and relevant.

As a result of this review, enhanced and updated control measures have been devised, which enable the automated issue of forms, that is, certificates, to subsets of selected groups of customers for completion and return to the Department to confirm that they continue to satisfy the conditions for receipt of child benefit and ECS. In the case of non-Irish national recipients who are resident in Ireland with their children, certification that the children continue to reside here is required. Proof of such residence can take the form of details of the school or college the child attends or, if the child is not of school-going age, details of the doctor or crèche he or she attends. Such information is used to verify that children are resident in Ireland.

In the case of EU nationals who are working in Ireland but have qualified children living in another EU state, certification by their employer of continuing employment is requested. If the required certification is not provided within the timescale requested — 21 days — child benefit or early child care supplement payments are suspended pending further inquiry. If certification is subsequently provided, payments which were suspended will be made in full. A percentage of all replies is checked to ensure the accuracy of the information provided, with cases referred to social welfare inspectors for follow-up action as necessary. These new certification reviews commenced in November 2007 and approximately 23,000 review forms have issued since then. This number will increase in the coming months. It is expected that more than 100,000 customers will be reviewed this year.

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