John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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257. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of the 20,800 cases of alleged social welfare fraud dealt with by his Department in 2016 which were reduced or stopped while his Department examined these cases; the number that were found to be fraudulent; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22836/17]

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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258. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons with regard to the 20,800 cases of alleged social welfare fraud dealt with by his Department in 2016 whose details were passed to the Director of Public Prosecutions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22837/17]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 257 and 258 together.

Reports from members of the public on their suspicions of social welfare fraud or wrongdoing are an important element in my Department’s overall efforts to prevent and detect fraudulent activity. Welfare fraud can be reported in a variety of ways. The Department provides a dedicated service on its website to enable reports to be made. A concerned member of the public can also write to the Department or telephone with information.

The Department examines all reports of suspected fraud and abuse received from the public. The initial examination focuses on identifying the person(s) who was reported and if they are in receipt of a social welfare payment. Where there appears to be sufficient grounds for concern, a request for a claim review is issued to the appropriate scheme area for investigation.

A payment is not suspended or stopped solely on the basis of a report received but on evidence garnered following a formal review/investigation. The report received provides a ‘trigger’ for the instigation of a review of a specific entitlement and further investigation if that is considered to be warranted. Given the hearsay nature of the reports, they are excluded from the statutory decision making process and do not form part of any evidence when the case is considered for prosecution. Accordingly, the Department does not track the outcome of reviews or investigations that are initiated following receipt of a Good Citizen Report.

I trust that this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

TABLE: Reports of suspected social welfare fraud from members of the public received and referred for investigation 2006-2016

Each report receives a preliminary examination for relevance and to identify the persons concerned and if they are in receipt of a social welfare payment. Where a person can be identified and sufficient information is provided to warrant a further examination, the report is referred to the relevant scheme area in the Department, to a Social Welfare Inspector for further investigation or to the Special Investigations Unit for more serious allegations. A payment is not suspended or stopped on the basis of the report received – instead this happens when evidence of wrong-doing has been ascertained by the appropriate scheme area.

All reports are received on an anonymous and confidential basis. To preserve the integrity of the public’s reporting system, the Department does not track the outcome of the individual allegations of wrongdoing received. However, internal assurance checks by the Department indicates that around 1 in 3 reports received results in the payments being made to individuals being reduced or terminated.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.