Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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1761. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the amount of money paid to fraudulent applicants by his Department, in each of the past ten years; and the amount which has been recouped by his Department in each of those years. [41147/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Overpayments of social welfare entitlements can occur for a number of reasons, including through error on the part of either the customer or the Department or where a person has provided false or misleading information. Persons who have been overpaid social welfare have a liability to refund the overpayment as they have been in receipt of a payment to which they were not entitled.

Suspected fraud cases arise where a deciding officer is satisfied that there is sufficient evidence that a person deliberately provided false or misleading information or willfully concealed relevant information in relation to their entitlement. The Deputy will appreciate that there is a high evidential standard to be met in such cases.

The table below sets out the number of overpayments raised and the associated value of those cases where an element of fraudulent activity was suspected in the years from 2018 to 2024. It also sets out the total recoveries for each year and recoveries from suspected fraud cases for the years 2023 & 2024. Prior to 2023, recoveries from suspected fraud cases were not recorded in the same manner, and therefore information in respect of earlier years is not readily available.

I trust that this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.