Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am disappointed that the Minister has not been able to give us some kind of costing because she was able to give us an estimate of savings, which she said were €530 million. I am not sure how she can estimate savings yet cannot estimate the cost to the Department. The previous strategy only saved an estimated €1 million so is that figure of €530 million an overestimate of what might be saved under the strategy? I certainly welcome the prevention element because, in many cases, it is actually mistakes by the Department that cause overpayments. I strongly welcome the emphasis on bogus self-employment. Can the Minister confirm that the Department will as zealously seek the prosecution of employers who engage in fraud through bogus self-employment as it will seek the prosecution of people who draw social welfare payments? It is important that we get that balance between white-collar crime and blue-collar crime, if we can call it that.

Has the Minister any intention of trying to simplify the multiple and complex categories of welfare assistance, which would probably save the Department a lot of administration money in terms of the overall cost of delivering the system, which was €629 million in 2018?

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