David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The amendment relates to section 16, which allows for a notice of attachment to other State payments when the Department seeks to recover a passed over payment. There is a balance to be struck. In genuine cases of fraud, nobody would have difficulty with the Department taking every opportunity available to recover money obtained illegally or through fraud. The problem arises where people have been overpaid through no fault of their own, through a clerical error on the part of the Department, which often happens, and are asked to repay the money in an unsustainable manner. That can be unfair. A number of State grants, such as the sustainable energy home grants, could also come under this. These grants are claimed by people after they have spent the money, and it could put families in unbearable hardship if that money is seized as repayment for an overpayment may not have been their fault. I have a number of concerns about the section, not all of which the Minister has addressed.