Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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2053. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the sanction request regarding her Department's recent social protection fraud campaign; the details of the comparative study between the cost of the campaign to date in 2017 and the amount recouped as a result of the campaign; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28276/17]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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My Department administers over 70 separate schemes and services, which affect the lives of almost every person in the State. In 2016, some 1.7 million applications for benefit, assistance and access to schemes were received and processed and over 82 million individual payments were made to people across all age groups and to employers. The scale of my Department’s operations and expenditure demands that a robust and integrated range of control and anti-fraud measures are in place. Measures to prevent and detect fraud and enhance controls across the Department’s various schemes are set out in the Compliance and Anti-Fraud Strategy which covers the period 2014 – 2018.

The recent fraud publicity campaign was designed to contribute to the overall effectiveness of my Department’s control strategy by:

- Promoting discussion on the topic of social welfare fraud and challenge the perceptions of those who see it as a victimless crime;

- Encouraging the reporting of suspected/known social welfare fraud by concerned members of the public and those who have knowledge of wrongful and possible fraudulent claiming;

- Demonstrating that the Government and the Department takes the issue of social welfare fraud very seriously and that it will investigate and prosecute, where this is found to be warranted; and

- Underscoring my Department’s obligations, as one of the largest spending Departments in the State, to ensure the integrity of the social welfare system.

I am satisfied that the campaign has been effective in achieving all the objectives set for it and it has received a great deal of public support. Bringing the issue of welfare fraud to the fore in media and public discourse has, I believe, raised debate and challenged the culture and perceptions of those who see welfare fraud as a victimless crime. The campaign has also led to a considerable increase in the level of suspected fraud reporting - a 66% increase in overall reporting during the initial campaign launch period. Two months on since the campaign started, 4,641 reports have been received from members of the public, compared with 3,039 for the same period in 2016. Therefore, the objective of increasing the reporting of suspected welfare fraud has also been achieved.

All suspected fraud reports are now being examined and referred for appropriate follow-up action where this is considered warranted and my Department is very grateful for the public’s support in reporting suspected cases of social welfare fraud. Furthermore, the Department’s control and anti-fraud measures have received considerable public attention, as have the use of predictive analytics modelling which my Department is now using to assist in its anti-fraud work.

The level of welfare fraud detected in 2017 that is solely attributable to this campaign would be difficult to measure without making assumptions or inferences as to the role of the campaign in motivating certain individuals to report suspected fraud. It is likely that the campaign will also play a role in deterring welfare fraud in future. It is, therefore, more appropriate to focus on the initial and sustained increased in fraud reporting which was a campaign objective from the outset.

The cost of the campaign was €165,988, excluding VAT. The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has sanctioned current expenditure for 2017 up to the limit set out in the Revised Estimates Volume for my Department, subject to a number of conditions. The Department’s administration provision for 2017 includes provision for expenditure on advertising. Such expenditure is not subject to individual sanction in respect of specific advertising campaigns but is subject to a condition that public procurement rules are observed in obtaining the services.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.