Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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Question 297: To ask the Minister for Social Protection if PPS numbers of the seller or purchaser are required as part of the sale, purchase or registration of land, and if they are not, if she will consider introducing same as a measure to combat social welfare fraud; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36157/11]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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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 processes in excess of 2 million claims each year and it makes payments to over one million people every week. The vast majority of people are receiving the entitlement due to them.

Fraud detection measures are continuously reviewed by my Department to ensure that resources are prioritised at achieving results, whilst adhering to data protection legislation. I understand that the Property Registration Authority (PRA) does not, at present, have any legal authority to require applicants to provide PPS numbers as part of the registration process. Any proposal to enter the PPS number of the applicant on the face of the register - or to require such information to be provided but not appear on the face of the register - would raise data protections issues for consideration.

The legislation governing the allocation and use of the PPS Number is contained in the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act 2005. Only specified bodies named in the Social Welfare Acts can use the PPS Number. At present, the PRA is not a "specified body". The PRA has confirmed that details of property and land ownership is publicly available on a read-only access basis. Staff in my Department who work in specified control areas have access to this information which enables them to check and confirm the ownership of land and other property for social welfare control purposes.

The Deputy should also note that legislation permits data sharing between government departments and agencies for control purposes. Section 261 (2) of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 2005 permits the Minister for Social Protection to share data with another Minister or specified body for control purposes in the administration of the Social Welfare Acts.

In this context, my Department has obtained a data match of property transfers from the Revenue Commissioners which has been matched against our computer databases. Data was received on sales, purchases and transfers of properties for three years. While the data contained almost one million records, just over 40,000 records related to social welfare customers.

In the majority of those matched cases, the property in question was transferred to a close family member and comprised of a family holding or a site being part of the family holding. In most cases, the customer had already notified the Department and a copy of the deed of transfer was attached to the customer's file.

In a small number of cases, my Department had not been notified of the property transfers which would have affected their payment rate. In those cases, their means were re-assessed and claims were reduced or terminated, as appropriate. My Department will continue to use data matching as an effective tool to curb abuse of the social welfare system.