Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of instances of overpayment in respect of various social welfare entitlements in each of the past two years to date; the degree to which overpayment was discovered by her Department or brought to her attention by recipients who were not aware of the conditions which caused the problem; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4540/13]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

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 of Social Protection. The Department has comprehensive control strategies in place across its various scheme areas which are designed to control fraud and abuse and to minimise overpayments. Where overpayments do occur, it is the Department’s policy is to actively pursue the recovery of debt in order to maximise overall recovery levels, with due regard to value for money. The number and value of overpayments across the various social welfare payments in 2010 and 2011 are as follows:

Overpayments raised by the Department are categorised as ‘Fraud’, ‘Non-Fraud’ or ‘Estate’ cases. Estate cases arise where undisclosed means by customers (usually pensioners) come to light after their deaths. Non-fraud cases are primarily due to customer or third party error, with some due to departmental error. Fraud cases arise mainly on foot of false declarations by customers concerning their employment, income and/or family status. The 2011 overpayments raised were categorised as follows:

The Department is not in a position to publicly report on overpayments recorded in 2012 as these figures form part of the statutory accounts of the Department and are currently subject to audit by the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General.