Deputies:

I am replying on behalf of the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton.

Deputies:

In recent years the Department of Social Protection has been actively engaged in data matching with other Departments and public bodies for control purposes. To this end, an extensive legal structure is in place to support the sharing of data for the purposes of controlling the entitlement to and payment of benefits. The legislative provisions that allow for the specific sharing of data with the Revenue Commissioners and other Departments and agencies are contained in section 261 of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act 2005. In exercising these functions the Department also operates in accordance with the relevant data protection legislation.

Deputies:

One of the Department's primary relationships in data sharing is with the Revenue Commissioners. In recent years bilateral liaison with Revenue has been improved through the establishment of a high level group at management board level, the purpose of which is to ensure ongoing collaboration and interaction between the two bodies, including on social welfare fraud and tax non-compliance issues. The two organisations are working together with a view to aligning expertise and information across their operations. In this context, a number of working groups have been established which are looking at a range of specifics issues, including that of social welfare fraud and tax compliance. In this context, it is important to emphasise that data exchange operates on a two-way basis between the Revenue Commissioners and the Department and has been ongoing for many years.

Deputies:

On the information provided by my Department for Revenue, data relating to short-term benefits such as illness benefit, occupational injury benefit and jobseeker's benefit have been provided for some time on a weekly basis. Information on some other long-term schemes, including long-term disability-illness benefit, child benefit, carer's allowance and one-parent family payment, is provided for Revenue on an annual basis.

Deputies:

On foot of a specific data matching exercise carried out by the Department in late 2011, following work done by one of the high level group's sub-groups, as outlined, some 563,800 records of pensioners were provided for the Revenue Commissioners in early December. The data in question related to customers in receipt of five social welfare payments, namely, State pension,contributory State pension, transition State pension, non-contributory State pension, widow's-widower's-surviving civil partner's pension and invalidity pension. The data provided contained the customer's PPS number, name, pension type and rate of payment. Although data in respect of this customer group were provided occasionally in the past, they were not previously given on a bulk basis. However, the development of new technology in the Department has facilitated the provision of this data in a complete and continuous manner.

Deputies:

It is important to recognise that this is all part of an ongoing policy to enhance data sharing between the Department of Social Protection and other public service bodies. As technology develops in the Department and elsewhere, it is expected that the exchange of data with other organisations will continue to be improved. The Department has been sharing data with other Departments and agencies for many years. Since 1997 it obtains commencement of employment data from Revenue which are matched against social welfare claims and relevant cases are investigated, where necessary. Information is also received on a daily basis on PRSI collection and, on a more ad hoc basis, certain tax exemptions and other tax heads. Other examples of ongoing co-operation include data matching and sharing of information with the Irish Prison Service which provides data for my Department on a weekly basis; the Department of Education and Skills which provides student data; the Commission on Taxi Regulation which provides data on taxi and hackney licences; the Probate Office; the Private Residential Tenancies Board; and the Health Service Executive.

Deputies:

The taxation of pensioners and all citizens is primarily a matter for the Revenue Commissioners. However, in the case of social welfare payments which are subject to tax, my Department notifies its customers that their payments are taxable and that they should contact their local tax office in this regard. A notice to this effect is contained in the award letter issued by the Department to the customer. The information leaflets for each of the relevant schemes also contain a reference to potential tax liability.

See this speech in context