Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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647. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of people with permanent disabilities and not forming part of the workforce who have had their disability allowance payment reviewed in each of the past five years; the estimated cost of carrying out these reviews; the amount that has been recovered by the State in each of these years as part of this review, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39159/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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My Department is committed to ensuring that only those people who are eligible receive welfare and other payments. Our overriding objective is to ensure that we pay the right people, the right amount, through the right scheme/programme, at the right time.

All schemes, including Disability Allowance (DA), are subject to periodic control reviews and continuing eligibility checks to ensure that recipients continue to satisfy the conditions for the scheme. At all times, every effort is made to conduct and complete reviews as quickly as possible to avoid any undue stress to the customer.

The table below outlines the number of control reviews on DA for the last five years, the amount of savings recorded, number of overpayments raised, value of the overpayments and recoveries of overpayments. The table includes some DA recipients who may be in employment.

It is not possible to disaggregate the cost of carrying out reviews from the overall administration costs of the Department 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.