Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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132. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection for certain information (details supplied), with the answers based on the period from September 2014 to September 2015; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41630/15]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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A social welfare overpayment arises where a claimant is found to have been in receipt of a payment that they were not entitled to. Once a revised decision on entitlement has been made, the person is informed of the decision and has the right to have the decision reviewed by the Department or to appeal the decision to the Social Welfare Appeals Office. Once the right of appeal has been exercised (or not) the Department will then consider the recovery of the overpayment.

Once an overpayment has been assessed, and the person has been notified, any correspondence thereafter seeking recovery would refer to the total amount of debt owed. A debt to the Department of Social Protection may comprise of a single overpayment on one scheme or a number of overpayments which may have been incurred on more than one scheme.

The table below details the number of people currently repaying a social welfare debt by deduction from the schemes identified by the Deputy.

The Deputy should note that this information refers to the current position and may change over time as people move on and off the social welfare schemes specified by the Deputy.