Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

73. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide details on the initiatives her Department has taken in order to reduce social welfare fraud; her views that changes to data protection laws are required to aid detection; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30811/14]

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

The new Compliance and Anti-Fraud Strategy 2014 – 2018,which I published in April this year, sets out the strategic approach to tackling fraud and abuse over the next 5 years. It also provides strong assurances to taxpayers - and society generally - that the system of control is robust and effective. The Strategy builds on the approaches that we have been successfully rolling out over the past few years under the Fraud Initiative 2011-2013, as well as setting out a number of new measures. These new measures include increasing the investigative presence on the ground through the secondment of Gardaí to the Department’s Special Investigation Unit and the use of predictive analytics technology to help identify fraudulent claims. The Garda officers will undertake the full range of duties in detecting and investigating social welfare fraud.

As part of the ongoing measures to control fraud and abuse the Department has, in the last number of years, been actively engaged in data matching with a number of other Government Departments and public bodies. Data matching is an efficient and effective mechanism to target control related activity.

The legislative provisions which allow for the specific sharing of data are contained in section 261 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act, 2005 and the Department operates in compliance with the basic principles and legislation underpinning data protection. In addition, the Department liaises with the Data Protection Commissioner on a regular basis on issues that may data protection implications.

I am satisfied with the current legal structure that is in place under social welfare legislation to support the sharing of data for the purpose of controlling the entitlement to and the payment of benefits.