Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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151. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the circulars governing the use of investigating social media accounts of persons for social welfare fraud within her Department; and the number of times social media profiles were investigated in the past four years. [36765/14]

Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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152. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if her staff are allowed set up social media profiles in order to access information when investigating social welfare fraud or if there are specific accounts used for this purpose; and the number of times this has occurred. [36766/14]

Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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153. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if her Department has purchased services from companies that allow it to view social media profiles of persons or services from app companies that allow it to view the same information; the amount of money spent on these contracts; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36767/14]

Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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154. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of control reviews undertaken last year using social media accounts; the outcome of each review; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36768/14]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 151 to 154, inclusive, together.

The Department’s Information & Communication Technology (ICT) facilities (including email and internet) are provided for business purposes. The Department's Acceptable Use Policy is a framework document that sets out the standards for use of the organisation's ICT. The Department’s Email & Internet Policy sets out how staff should use the email and internet facilities. The policy also sets out that staff have a responsibility to observe the rules regarding the Acceptable Use Policy and other relevant policies and guidelines. Email and internet use are considered to be a normal part of DSP's business tools, techniques and processes. Therefore, all of the Department's policies and guidance apply to their use also, whether explicitly stated within the email & internet policy or not.

The Department recognises the popularity and potential value of social media for communicating with customers and acknowledges that these tools can bring benefits. Whilst not a systematic part of the Department's on-going targeted fraud and control activities, the Department’s investigation and control staff will occasionally refer to social media sites as part of their investigations or to follow up on reports from members of the public referring to various sites. Social media is actively used in the context of business and advertising and fraud investigators have used material in the context of investigations related to concurrent working and claiming.

Staff who have access to social media sites for official purposes are vigilant regarding their use of such sites and are responsible for ensuring that at all times their usage is lawful and in keeping with the Department’s policies. The staff using social media sites for control of fraud purposes access information publicly available on those sites. Details obtained from social media - where available - are examined and where relevant may be used as part of an investigation to review a customer’s entitlement. A payment is not suspended or stopped on the basis of a social media site posting. The Department has not purchased services from companies or app companies in order to view social media profiles.

Statistics are not maintained on the number of times social media sites are used as part of control of fraud investigations.