Mark Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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625. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of letters that issue each year from individual payment sections of his Department as part of on-going control measures; the total cost of those letters by payment section, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38847/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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My Department has a broad ranging and comprehensive control strategy, the Compliance and Anti-Fraud Strategy, which aims to ensure that suspected fraud and non-compliance in our welfare system is kept to a minimum. A range of checks are pursued to prevent, detect, and deter abuse within the welfare system including checks before claims are awarded and subsequent reviews where claims are in payment.

Customers are notified of control activities through a range of channels including, letters, online via My Welfare, email, telephone or face to face interviews. During 2024, almost 685,000 control reviews were carried out resulting in savings of €611 million. As a result of control activity in 2024, there were 115,000 overpayments raised to a value of €157.5 million. Recoveries of overpayments in 2024 amounted to €111 million.

It is not possible to disaggregate from the total postal expenditure, the number of letters and postage costs specific to on-going control measures, given that many of the tasks associated with control and anti-fraud measures are an inherent element of the roles of all social welfare officials.

I trust that this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.