Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 258: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the number of persons prosecuted in relation to social welfare fraud in each payment area in 2009; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47347/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The number of criminal cases finalised in court for the first 11 months of 2009 was 334. The breakdown of the cases by type is set down in the tabular statement.

Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 259: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the number of people prosecuted in relation to social welfare fraud from 2000 to date and in 2009; the average time taken to process these cases; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47348/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The number of people prosecuted between 2000 and the end of November 2009 is set down in the tabular statement below. Under social welfare legislation, a prosecution for a summary offence may be brought within 2 years from the date that the offence was committed; or 18 months from when sufficient evidence to justify instituting legal proceedings came into the possession of the Department. All such cases are submitted by social welfare inspectors to the Department's Central Prosecution Service (CPS) for possible criminal proceedings. A brief in relation to each case is forwarded by CPS to the Chief State Solicitor's Office (CSSO) to initiate legal proceedings within the required timeframe through the District Courts. The cases with addresses outside Dublin and county are dealt with by the relevant local state solicitors based around the country.

The Courts are totally independent of the State and judges have the discretion to decide on the appropriate penalty to be applied in any case having regard to the evidence presented to them in relation to the case. It is the offence which is the subject of the prosecution, however, some judges choose to adjourn cases to monitor the recovery of the debt arising from the fraud. The average time to bring a case to conclusion through the courts varies. An analysis of the 334 cases finalised in court up to the end of November 2009 found that 14 (4.2%) cases were submitted to CPS for prosecution in 2009; 137 (41%) were submitted in 2008; 78 (23.4%) were submitted in 2007; 98 (29.3%) were submitted between 2003 and 2006. The balance of 7 (2.1%) were submitted between 1997 and 2002.

DSFA Criminal Prosecutions