Dinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 69: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if there is discretion for officials in his Department to write off overpayments made to customers; the criteria by which such decisions are made and if mitigating circumstances are taken into account; the number of cases of overpayments which were written off in 2005 and the amount involved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10932/06]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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It is my Department's policy to maximise the recovery of moneys overpaid in order to have due regard to the interests of taxpayers and social insurance contributors who finance social welfare payments. My Department may, however, decide to seek repayment of a reduced amount or not to seek any repayment in cases where the overpayment resulted from an error by an official of the Department and where the person could not reasonably be expected to have been aware of the error. A reduction in the amount sought or a decision not to seek any repayment may also arise in cases where an overpayment resulted from a failure by my Department to act promptly on information provided to it. My Department would not pursue a repayment in cases where it believes that there is no reasonable prospect of ever securing repayment.

In determining the amount to be repaid and the method of recovery, my Department takes into account the personal circumstances of the person overpaid and the circumstances in which the overpayment occurred. People are given the opportunity to give their views on the assessment of the overpayment and the proposed method of recovery and can bring to the attention of my Department any facts or circumstances they consider relevant to the recovery of the overpayment.

My Department operates a policy, under sanction of the Department of Finance, whereby overpayments, in respect of which there has been no recovery activity for three years and there is no immediate prospect of such recovery, are written off for accounting purposes. The purpose of this provision, when introduced, was to avoid carrying large irrecoverable overpayments in the accounts of the Department. The fact that an overpayment is written off for accounting purposes, however, does not mean that it cannot be recovered at a later date. In 2004, the latest year for which figures are available, overpayments to the value of over €7.8 million — 15,670 cases — were written off but an amount of almost €1.5 million has been recovered post write off.