Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 2:

In page 6, between lines 8 and 9, to insert the following:

"'Anti-Fraud Initiatives' means those programmes, measures or actions designed to eliminate fraudulent claims in respect of all payments made under the Principal Act, as amended;".

Fine Gael is putting forward this amendment because it believes substantial savings can be made through greater vigilance on the part of the Department of Social and Family Affairs in terms of combating fraud.

The Minister has pledged to save €25 million through increased anti-fraud activity. Through her U-turn on the removal of the disability allowance from children between the ages of 16 and 18 and it not being replaced by the domiciliary care allowance, she hopes to make another saving of €4.4 million. The Minister hopes to make, between July and 31 December, savings of €30 million through extra anti-fraud measures.

The amendment seeks to give definition to the term "anti-fraud measures". I am seeking to ascertain if the Minister intends to recoup payments in respect of fraudulent claims made prior to July of this year. That that depth of savings can be made in six months, requires the Minister to examine what other payments made prior to July should not have been made. This would be of benefit to the Department of Social and Family Affairs and would ensure that people who need payments are able to get them. That is the principal reason for this amendment.

I believe there is scope for increased controls, in particular controls at airports and so on. The Minister will be aware of the case raised previously during Question Time, namely, the substantial savings of more than €1 million a year made by a garda involved in this area. From August to December 2004 alone, a saving of €1.468 million was generated through the termination of 234 claims. There is a lot of scope for greater controls in this area. The amendment seeks to ensure that anti-fraud initiatives are enshrined in legislation and as such will become a serious focus of the Department of Social and Family Affairs.

See this speech in context