Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

I am surprised by the Deputy's statement because in my experience, most people in receipt of a social welfare income are very anxious that the small number of people who are scamming the system should be stopped in so far as this is possible. I hear this from pensioners and from unemployed people. I hear concerns expressed about employers who may be employing people under the counter, as it were, and in the shadow economy. If the Deputy has not heard this same concerns expressed, then I am a little surprised, to be honest. Most people who are in receipt of social welfare payments are utterly honest and they receive no more nor no less than their entitlement. However, some people are claiming entitlements to which they are not properly entitled. I do not make any apology for the Government giving a high priority to ensuring that social welfare payments go to people who are entitled to those payments and not to people who have no entitlement or who may be involved in other activities.

The Deputy referred to cases being brought to court. This happens in a very small number of instances because prosecution is ultimately a matter for the Garda Síochána and the Director of Public Prosecutions but there have been a number of cases, particularly involving people using multiple identities or submitting multiple claims for social welfare purposes. The courts have taken a very serious view in such cases of these activities.

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