Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 662: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the amount of overpayment awarded by her per year from 2004 to 2008 in each payment area; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29912/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The overpayment information for years 2004 to 2008 requested by the Deputy is set-down in the tabular statements. The figures for 2008 are provisional.

In 2006 a new debt management strategy was developed for the Department. The overall goal of this strategy is to actively pursue the recovery of debt to maximise recovery levels, with due regard to value for money and with particular emphasis on recovery from people no longer dependent on welfare payments. The objectives of the strategy are To maximise the recovery of overpayments To efficiently record, report and monitor the occurrence and recovery of overpayments To fulfil statutory, accounting and reporting obligations To conduct overpayment and debt management as efficiently as possible. Overpayments may be recovered in the following ways: a single payment covering the full amount owed regular periodic payments deduction(s) from the customers social welfare payment by taking civil proceedings Implementation of the debt management strategy to date has consisted of: A review of debt on the old computer system. The introduction of the ODM computer system The issue of guidelines setting out debt management procedures and defining the responsibilities of areas in relation to debt management and debt management procedures. The restructuring of the Central Overpayments and Debt Management Unit.

* All of these schemes have been re-named from October 2006.

Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 663: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the number of people claiming jobseeker's benefit who notified her they will return to their home country or are seeking work in another EU country to date in 2009; the value of payment relating to same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29913/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The number of people who requested transfer of their Jobseeker Benefit, in line with EU Regulations, to their home country since 1 January 2009 is 2,479. The maximum length of time that a person can transfer their benefit entitlement to another country is seventy eight days (13 weeks). The Department has reciprocal arrangements in place with five EU Member States whereby reimbursement of payments made by those countries for the customers (83) involved is not claimed. The maximum exposure, therefore, to which the Department could be exposed for the remaining 2,396 customers amounts to €6,282,529. However, where customers find employment and consequently do not claim their full entitlement in their home country the costs to the Department will be reduced accordingly. It is not possible to give the final cost to the Department until such time as reimbursement requests are received and processed.