Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

I repeat that the figure of €645 million is the prevention of expenditure which would occur if checks and extensive checking were not undertaken to ensure that people were in receipt of the correct payments. The fraud initiative includes targeted reviews and examinations within areas which may be deemed to be a fraud risk. The most effective use of audit resources is to target at-risk areas. For instance, a targeted control project involving both former community welfare officers and social welfare inspectors took place in June 2011. Some 320 clients were visited, of whom 90 were called for further interview. A total of 43 clients had their payments suspended, 18 for non-attendance at interview, 16 for no longer being at the address stated and nine for non-compliance with requests to supply information. The savings generated in that case was €140,000. The Department of Social Protection, the Garda Síochána and the Revenue, co-operate in an investigation of those working on taxi ranks in order to identify people who are operating taxis who are not registered for PRSI or for taxation purposes and who may not be in possession of a valid taxi licence.

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