Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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412. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the size of the total control saving figure from the most recent year available; the total number of cases that were reviewed; and the number of those that were found to involve overpayment. [41121/13]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Department’s control work is measured in terms of control savings. Control savings are used as a performance indicator for year-on-year activities and are an estimate of the value of the various control activities across the schemes in payment. They refer to future expenditure that would have been incurred but for this control work. Without this control work the social welfare expenditure would over time increase by this amount. Control savings do not include any cases of departmental or clerical error. Control savings do not include any cases where the customer voluntarily told the Department of their means or circumstances, which resulted in a change to their rate of payment.

In 2012 the Department recorded control savings of €669m and carried out over 1 million reviews. In 2012, there were approximately 127,000 overpayments amounting to €97m which represented 0.47% of total Departmental expenditure. Overpayments arising from activity suspected of being fraudulent amounted €41m in 2012. In this context it is important to note that the 2012 volumes are distorted by approximately 60,000 once-off overpayments totalling €1.2m that arose from the payment in error of an additional week’s fuel allowance. Comparable figures for year-on-year analysis are 67,000 overpayments amounting to €95.8m. It is also important to bear in mind that overpayment amounts recorded in 2012 may have occurred in previous years.