Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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224. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the policy in respect of recouping an overpayment to a person that is now deceased; if there is a Statute of Limitation; the appeals process in place; the way in which it is decided to apportion the overpayment to the deceased family; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38349/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The Department of Social Protection makes every effort to ensure that the right person is paid the right amount of money at the right time. These principles are an integral part of the day-to-day work of my Department. Where overpayments of benefit or assistance arise, my Department seeks full recovery as quickly as possible.

The Social Welfare (Consolidation Act) 2005 makes provision for the recovery of any sum overpaid from the estates of deceased persons. In seeking recovery from the estate, the circumstances giving rise to the overpayment are taken into account by my Department, together with any views expressed by the personal representatives and/or family of the deceased persons. A social welfare debt will not become statute barred for recovery under these statutory provisions. Any person who has a material interest in such cases and who is dissatisfied with a decision giving rise to an overpayment of benefit or assistance, has a right of appeal to the Social Welfare Appeals Office.

Sections 335(a) and (b) of the Act provides that any benefit or assistance overpaid is repayable and that this obligation extends to any other person to whom the benefit was paid on behalf of that person, or the personal representative of that person. In general, the personal representative or the solicitor of the deceased person’s estate will contact my Department to arrange settlement of the outstanding overpayment. In every case the value of the estate is reduced by the funeral and legal expenses for which the estate is liable and recovery of the overpayment is then sought from the remaining assets. The issue of apportionment does not arise. Where insufficient assets are available to repaid the outstanding sums, the Department has powers to consider the write-off or write-down of the balance of the outstanding overpayment to reflect the circumstances.

In the event that the monies are not recovered by agreement, Section 339 (4) of the 2005 Act provides that civil proceedings can be taken within 6 years from the date on which the notice of intention to distribute the estate or the schedule of assets was received.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.