Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Senator makes an excellent point but we have to ensure we provide an excellent service. If we do not carry out those random surveys we have no idea whether the 1.4 million people receiving a payment every week are receiving the right payment at the right time. This is part of the testing of procedures.

I will take on board the Senator’s suggestion and will look at the letter sent out to the 1,000 clients. These surveys reveal glitches in the schemes that we can correct automatically. It is part of our customer service programme to highlight areas where the Department is not doing well.

If there is fraud within the system, that will be highlighted. In a number of cases, we were made aware that applicants were not receiving the correct payments because they filled out their applications wrongly in the first instance. The Senator has probably come across a number of people who did not apply for their full entitlements.

In the long term, surveys will improve the service we provide to the customer. Over the last four years numerous improvements have been made to our services, including reducing the length of time involved in processing applications. These surveys assist us in making such improvements. In the context of the 1.4 million people in receipt of benefits, 1,000 is a small sample size. I will investigate whether the wording of the letter to which the Senator referred is correct in terms of avoiding undue upset to applicants or individuals in receipt of payments. I thank her for highlighting the issue.