Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 322: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if he will provide a copy of details of the programme of fraud and error survey on child benefit, undertaken in 2004; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10195/08]

Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 323: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if he will provide a copy of details of the programme of fraud and error surveys on family income supplement undertaken in 2004; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10196/08]

Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 324: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if he will provide a copy of details of the programme of fraud and error surveys on the disability allowance scheme undertaken in 2005; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10197/08]

Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 325: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if he will provide a copy of details of the programme of fraud and errors survey on the public personal service number allocation process undertaken in 2006; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10198/08]

Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 326: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if he will provide a copy of details of the programme of fraud and errors survey on illness benefit undertaken in 2006; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10199/08]

Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 327: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if he will provide a copy of details of the programme of fraud and errors on non-contributory State pension undertaken in 2007; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10200/08]

Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 328: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if he will provide a copy of details of the programme of fraud and errors on one parent family cases that are administered through the local offices undertaken in 2007; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10201/08]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 322 to 328, inclusive, together.

The prevention of fraud and abuse of the social welfare system is an integral part of the day-to-day work of my Department. A key objective of my Department's control strategy is to ensure that the right person is paid the right amount of money at the right time. My Department undertakes surveys of the levels of fraud and error as part of its control strategy to identify the types of claims which should be prioritised for review purposes. The Department is committed to undertaking at least two such surveys annually and these are done in accordance with the specific criteria, laid down by the C&AG, in a value for money report completed in 2003.

The criteria involved are as follows:

all cases for inclusion in the survey must be selected randomly from the population of cases in payment at a specific time

the sample size must be sufficiently large to yield reasonably reliable estimates

the reviews should be carried out quickly

the results of the survey should be capable of being audited

cases should be tested fully for all possible breaches of regulations

the monetary values of any changes as a result of the review together with the monetary value of the sample should be captured so that the results can be extrapolated to draw conclusions about the estimated value of the loss.

When a survey is completed the results are extrapolated and are used to provide the overall fraud and error rate in terms of the percentage of cases affected and the percentage of annual expenditure in the scheme attributed to fraud and error. The process involves Social Welfare Inspectors reviewing a random sample of cases, generally in the region of 1,000, to assess the underlying levels of fraud and error with action being taken by scheme managers to address the risks identified.

The results of surveys undertaken on Disability Allowance (DA); Family Income Supplement (FIS); Child Benefit (CB); Illness Benefit (IB); State Pension Non-Contributory (SPNC) are as set out in the following table:

In the case of child benefit the survey was undertaken in such a way as to identify the levels of fraud and error for Irish Nationals and non-Irish Nationals separately. In the case of 500 Irish Nationals surveyed, the extent of fraud that arose is 1.7% as compared to 13.9% in the case of 500 non-Irish Nationals surveyed, giving an overall level of fraud of 2.3% when weighted against the scheme client base.

The survey on OPF has not yet been completed. A survey was undertaken on the PPSN allocation process in 2006. The survey findings were based on four categories.

1. Pre-allocation fraud where the PPSN is improperly obtained using fraudulent documentation.

2. Post allocation fraud where the PPSN is used by someone other than the original applicant.

3. Data quality error which includes errors such as an incorrect date of birth, a misspelt name, nationality recorded incorrectly or incorrect gender.

4. Administrative errors which are errors in administration procedures such as failure to properly follow best practice such as witness signature not present, application date not recorded or first name insufficiently recorded.

An overall fraud rate of 1% was identified (pre-allocation fraud 0.5%, post allocation fraud 0.5%). This figure would indicate that fraud detection methods are effective. The survey identified a number of administrative issues that required attention. The Department has introduced a number of initiatives to address the data quality and the administrative errors highlighted from the survey. It should be noted that the administrative errors do not adversely affect either the efficacy of the application process or the resultant data held on the Department's records as the errors are classed as minor.

I am committed to ensuring that social welfare payments are available to those who are entitled to them. I am also determined to ensure that abuse of the system is prevented and is dealt with effectively when detected. In this regard the control programme of my Department is carefully monitored and the various measures are continuously refined to ensure that they remain effective.