Written answers
Thursday, 8 November 2012
Department of Social Protection
Social Welfare Fraud
Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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To ask the Minister for Social Protection the fraud savings target set for each scheme in 2012; the fraud savings to date under each scheme and the number of claims involved; the level of fraud under each scheme based on the most recent fraud survey; the total annual amount paid under each scheme and the number of recipients; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49174/12]
Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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My Department has a target of reviewing 985,000 individual welfare claims and achieving €645 million in control savings for 2012. Up to the end of September 2012, some €501 million in estimated control savings has been reported and over 917,000 reviews have been carried out. I fully expect that my Department will achieve the 2012 control targets.
Control savings represent an estimate of the value of prevented expenditure from control activity over a future period. Control savings are not actual monies recovered by the Department but are a good indication of the increase in social welfare expenditure that would occur without these activities taking place. These activities also have a deterrent or knock-on effect, which are not readily quantifiable in monetary terms. Control savings are used as a performance indicator for year-on-year activities.
The following table gives a breakdown of the control savings and reviews recorded up to end Sept 2012.
| Achieve to end of September 2012 (YTD) | Annual Savings Target €M | Amt. of savings YTD €M | Annual Reviews Target | No of Reviews YTD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jobseeker Allowance & Benefit | €102.00 | €64.00 | 194,000 | 174,000 |
| Illness Benefit & Medical Review Assessment | 80.00 | €44.00 | 154,000 | 100,000 |
| Disability Allowance/Invalidity Pension/DCA | 39.00 | €23.00 | 30,000 | 23,000 |
| State Pension Non Con & Estates | €61.00 | €54.00 | 8,000 | 5,000 |
| State Pension Con./Transitional Pension | €63.00 | €63.00 | 5,000 | 11,000 |
| One Family Parent | €116.00 | €92.00 | 90,000 | 73,000 |
| Widows/Widowers/Survivors & Civil Partners | €30.00 | €37.00 | 2,000 | 8,000 |
| Maintenance Recovery Unit | €4.000 | €2.00 | 2,500 | 4,000 |
| Child Benefit | €72.00 | €70.00 | 247,000 | 335,000 |
| Carers | €12.00 | €12.00 | 4,000 | 17,000 |
| Family Income Support | €12.00 | €14.00 | 26,000 | 23,000 |
| Free Schemes & Others | €24.00 | €6.00 | 20,000 | 15,000 |
| PRSI | €4.00 | €6.00 | 2,500 | 7,000 |
| SWA | €26.00 | €14.00 | 200,000 | 122,000 |
€645.00 | €501.00 | 985,000 | 917,000 |
Under the Fraud Initiative 2011 - 2013, the Department plans to undertake at least two fraud and error surveys each year. These surveys highlight the risk of non-compliance with the rules of the schemes being surveyed at a particular point in time and enable the Department to target those schemes for stronger control measures, where necessary. Results are presented in terms of the net rate of fraud and error which refers to the position after account is taken of decreases or increases in weekly rates, termination of payments, transfers to other payments and the position following appeal of any cases affected.
Fraud and Error Surveys were published on three schemes in 2012 - Jobseekers Benefit, Disability Allowance and One Parent Family Payment and the results were as follows:
A fraud & error survey on the Child Benefit scheme has been completed and will be published in the coming weeks. A survey on Jobseekers Allowance began in September 2012 and further surveys are planned for 2013.
The following tables provide details of the number of recipients and the total amount paid under each scheme in 2011 and as requested by the Deputy.
Recipients 2011
| Type of Payment | Provisional |
|---|---|
€000 | |
| State Pension (Non-Contributory) | 971,566 |
| State Pension (Contributory) | 3,622,767 |
| State Pension (Transition) | 132,396 |
| Widow's, Widower's or Surviving Civil Partner's Contributory Pension | 1,337,868 |
| Death Benefit Pension | 7,977 |
| Bereavement Grants | 19,440 |
| Total Pensions | 6,092,014 |
| Jobseeker's Allowance | 2,974,987 |
| One Parent Family Payment | 1,088,897 |
| Widow's, Widower's or Surviving Civil Partner's Non-Contributory Pension | 18,173 |
| Deserted Wife's Allowance | 4,211 |
| Basic Supplementary Welfare Allowance(2) | 174,349 |
| Farm Assist | 113,724 |
| Pre-Retirement Allowance | 59,942 |
| Jobseeker's Benefit | 927,105 |
| Deserted Wife's Benefit | 85,828 |
| Maternity Benefit | 309,143 |
| Adoptive Benefit | 1,075 |
| Health and Safety Benefit | 643 |
| Redundancy and Insolvency | 326,892 |
| Treatments Benefits | 23,042 |
| Exceptional Needs and Urgent Payments | 62,228 |
| Other Supplements | 12,766 |
| Humanitarian Aid | 359 |
| Total Working Age Income Supports | 6,183,364 |
| Community Employment | 349,396 |
| Other Employment Programmes | 48,180 |
| Integration Supports | 27,158 |
| Employment Support Services | 435,163 |
| Total Working Age Employment Supports | 859,897 |
| Disability Allowance | 1,089,178 |
| Blind Pension | 15,625 |
| Carer's Allowance | 507,193 |
| Domiciliary Care Allowance | 99,924 |
| Respite Care Grant | 130,392 |
| Illness Benefit | 875,641 |
| Injury Benefit | 16,508 |
| Invalidity Pension | 606,512 |
| Disablement Benefit | 77,460 |
| Medical Care Scheme | 317 |
| Carer's Benefit | 24,474 |
| Total Illness, Disability and Caring | 3,443,224 |
| Child Benefit | 2,076,338 |
| Family Income Supplement | 204,543 |
| Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance | 90,909 |
| School Meals Scheme | 34,975 |
| Guardian's Payment (Non-Contributory) | 5,134 |
| Widowed or Surviving Civil Partner Grant (Non-Contributory) | 276 |
| Guardian's Payments (Contributory) | 11,502 |
| Widowed or Surviving Civil Partner Grant (Contributory) | 6,228 |
| Total Children | 2,429,905 |
| Household Benefits and Free Travel(3) | 711,011 |
| Rent Allowance | 701 |
| Supplementary Payments(3) | 617,894 |
| Total Supplementary Payments | 1,329,606 |
| Administration - Insurance Schemes | 280,984 |
| Administration - Assistance Schemes | 348,847 |
| Total Administration | 629,831 |
| Grand Total | 20,967,841 |
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