Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

My Department has compiled and published data and reports on its control, compliance and anti-fraud work annually for a number of years. The calculations used are well grounded and underpinned by a recognised methodology. They are a performance management metric used to monitor the progress of control, compliance and anti-fraud work in my Department. The overall metric consists of overpayments and savings that arise from internally initiated reviews and investigation activity.

The total value of control and anti-fraud savings recorded by my Department in 2016 was €506 million. This figure represents the outcome of nearly 950,000 reviews and investigations undertaken by my officials across the board of schemes and programmes. Such savings will only be recorded in cases where a social welfare claim is reduced in value or terminated following a review or investigation initiated by the Department. The basis of the savings calculated is scheme-specific. The nature of the scheme is taken into account, in particular whether it is short-term - for example, jobseeker's benefit or supplementary welfare allowance - or more long-term such as the State pension. This takes into account the length of time a person who has a claim reduced or terminated is expected to remain off a particular scheme or at the reduced rate of payment. The multipliers used in these calculations are based on observed behaviour and historical data for claims. If there is a reduction in the value of the payment or if the payment is terminated, the sum overpaid is calculated and put to the claimant and, if accepted, recovery actions commence soon after. As for future payments, only the difference between the current value and the previous value is counted. This difference or the full value if the payment is terminated, together with the expected number of weeks a person remains off a payment, is used as the basis for the calculation of the savings achieved for the future. As I have outlined, he number of weeks varies between long and short-term schemes. If a person disagrees with our decision, he or she can seek an appeal to the social welfare appeals office. Only the final outcome is considered.

The methodology has been developed by my Department with support from the Central Statistics Office and is based on similar methodologies used in a number of countries such as the United Kingdom and Australia. It is kept under review to reflect the changes in claim patterns. The Department will examine the methodology in the context of renewing the compliance and anti-fraud strategy 2014 to 2018.

See this speech in context