Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 124: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if she is satisfied with the progress made in tackling welfare fraud; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3327/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The prevention of fraud and abuse of the social welfare system is an integral part of the day-to-day work of the Department.

The Department makes payments to over one million people every week and the vast majority of them are receiving the entitlement due to them. Where overpayments occur the Department seeks to recover the overpayments and in cases of serious fraud, the Department will use all legal avenues open to it to recover the money defrauded and seek redress.

A four-pronged control strategy has been adopted by the Department, namely prevention of fraud and error at the initial claim stage, early detection through effective review of claims in payment, measures to deter fraud and the pursuit and recovery of overpayments.

Key elements of the Department's control strategy include systematic risk analysis, surveys of the levels of fraud and error within schemes and matching the Department's scheme data with other bodies' data e.g. Revenue's commencement of employment and earnings data. These control tools help identify the types of claims which should be prioritised for review purposes.

There are approximately 600 staff at local and regional level whose work involves control activities including a dedicated section dealing with identity fraud in PPSN allocations.

Two officers of the Department are seconded to the Garda National Immigration Bureau to assist both agencies in the pursuit of their respective remits, with particular emphasis on welfare fraud and breaches of immigration legislation.

In 2008 almost €476 million in social welfare payments was saved through fraud and error control measures which is an increase of €29million on the previous year. Over 560,000 social welfare claims were reviewed and over 1,000 reports of possible fraud were received from members of the public.

At the end 2008, 357 cases of social welfare fraud were forwarded to the Chief State Solicitors Office for the initiation of prosecution proceedings. 328 cases were finalised in court, two were imprisoned, 19 received suspended sentences, 208 were fined, nine received community service and 46 received the Probation Act. The remaining penalties included cases which were bound to the peace or adjourned with liberty to re-enter.

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 the Department is carefully monitored and the various measures are continuously refined to ensure that they remain effective.