John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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28. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason fraud and error surveys are being carried out with older persons in receipt of the non-contributory State pension; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2060/18]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Department has a duty to ensure that it pays the right person the right amount of money at the right time. It is important that all schemes operated by the Department, including State Pension (non-contributory), are subject to ongoing control reviews and continuing eligibility checks. This includes conducting fraud and error surveys which serve to reaffirm the entitlement of randomly selected recipients to their ongoing social welfare payments. Fraud and error surveys are an integral part of the Department’s overall approach to control. They provide the Department with an indicator of the risk of non-compliance with scheme rules at a point in time and provide evidence on where control activities should be focused and inform risk assessment models for schemes.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) reports annually on the regularity of social welfare payments. These reports are based on the outcome of fraud and error surveys undertaken by the Department. In recent years, the C&AG has made recommendations in relation to the methodologies underpinning the surveys which have been adopted by the Department and the implementation of actions to address control weaknesses identified as a result of surveys. Surveys involve sample cases and sample sizes representative of the specific scheme claim load. Sample sizes vary between 600 and 1,000 cases, depending on the particular characteristics of the scheme being surveyed.

The schedule of surveys forms part of the Department’s overall Compliance and Anti-Fraud Strategy 2014 - 2018. Generally, surveys are focused on schemes that involve large value expenditure. The nature of the scheme, either means or contribution-based, is also considered in selecting schemes to be surveyed.

The survey currently underway is the first such survey of the State Pension (non-contributory) scheme. Field work on this survey is due to be completed within the next few weeks with publication of the report due later in the year. A sample of 1,000 cases is being examined as part of the survey.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.