John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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Question 145: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the way she plans to address the growing problem of prisoner benefit fraud; if this issue will be resolved in the upcoming budget; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17752/11]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Department has abroad-ranging and comprehensive control strategy. The emphasis is to minimise risks of fraud and eliminate incorrect payments. Ensuring that the right person is paid the right amount of money at the right time is an integral part of the day-to-day work of the Department.

The Department has, in the last number of years, been engaged in data matching with other Government Departments and public bodies for control purposes. Current legislation provides for this information sharing for the purposes of detecting and deterring social welfare fraud. Data matching is viewed as a very efficient and effective mechanism to target control-related activity.

The Department receives data for social welfare fraud control purposes from the Irish Prison Service (IPS). Data is received on a number of occasions annually and is matched against the Department's systems. This data matching is used to identify cases where prisoners are receiving a payment from the Department while in custody. All social welfare payments are terminated where it is confirmed that a prisoner is either in prison or unlawfully at large.

The Department is in regular contact with the IPS in relation to prisoners who may be claiming social welfare payments. It is currently in talks with the Irish Prison Service to enable more scheduled and frequent data sharing in relation to prisoners.