Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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174. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the amount recovered through Operation DIRT in 2014 and 2015; the amount recovered by Operation DIRT since its inception; his views on the implementation of Operation DIRT to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17797/16]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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175. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the top ten individual amounts recovered from social protection claimants through Operation DIRT in 2015; the aggregate amount in their bank accounts; when those persons first made incorrect declarations to his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17798/16]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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176. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the top ten amounts in the bank accounts of persons who have made repayments to her Department as a result of Operation DIRT since it commenced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17799/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 174 to 176, inclusive, together.

Section 261 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 provides for the sharing of data for the purpose of preventing and detecting fraud in social welfare schemes. Information held by another Government Department or a public body which is required for the purposes of the Act for the control of schemes may be transferred to the Department.

In 2012, the Revenue Commissioners provided information on persons who had paid high levels of Deposit Interest Retention Tax (DIRT) in previous years. High value DIRT payments indicate that significant amounts of capital have been invested. This data was cross-referenced with persons in receipt of means-tested social welfare payments. Broader investigations were initiated following completion of a pilot project undertaken by the Department’s Special Investigations Unit in 2012. These investigations and related processes, such as the recovery of overpaid social welfare payments, are ongoing. Given the complexity of individual investigations, it is not possible to give a definitive timeline as to when outcomes will be finalised.

The Department does not record the value of capital held in respect of individual bank accounts. The dates of false declarations made in individual cases range from the dates of application to schemes and subsequent declarations made over the life cycle of scheme payments.

To the end of 2015, some €23.1 million has been recovered from persons who had failed to advise the Department of their investments. Details of the amount recovered in 2013 and 2014 are provided in the following table:

TABLE: Amounts Recovered on DIRT related Investigations 2013 to 2015

The Department can indicate that the highest value repayment in 2015 amounted to some €144,000 with an average of the highest value recoveries (those over €90,000) amounting to some €118,300. The Department does not maintain records of the value of the investment held by each individual customer and, therefore, it is not possible to provide aggregate values for the sums invested, not all of which had been concealed from the Department.