Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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599. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection whether her Department will review the eligibility of undocumented individuals for welfare benefits; and the safeguards which exist to ensure only lawful residents access payments. [51158/25]

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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600. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the measures in place to verify residency and legal status in applications for social welfare payments; and if additional safeguards are being introduced in 2025. [51171/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 599 and 600 together.

The Department is committed to ensuring that only those people who are eligible, receive welfare and other payments. Achieving this requires that robust safeguards are in place that secure our payment systems, detect possible fraud and error, and prevent possible fraudulent claiming.

All applicants must provide proof of their identity when making a claim. The applicants must verify their identity through the SAFE registration process. The SAFE registration process establishes and fully authenticates a person’s identity.

When establishing a person’s entitlement to a social welfare payment, each claim is examined in line with the statutory qualifying conditions for the scheme and the information provided by the person in support of their claim. Proof of residency and the legal status of a person is an essential condition for most schemes however, there may also be various conditions associated with a person’s rights to access public services including social welfare payments.

It is a requirement under the Immigration Act that a person obtains a letter from the Minister for Justice, granting them permission to reside in the State. They are also required to register this permission to stay in Ireland and be issued with a Irish Residence Permit (IRP). While the residency permit awarded by the Department of Justice does give the person a right to reside, there may be various conditions associated with the rights to access public services. The type of permission received is printed on the IRP card. A person covered under the Immigration Act would normally present an IRP card when making an application for a social assistance payment.

There are a number of control checks in place to ensure people in receipt of social welfare payments continue to meet the conditions for the payment they receive, including checks to ensure they are resident in the country. These checks can include in person attendance at Intreo Centres, review of scheme entitlement, and collection of payment in person at the Post Office.

All processes are kept under review in the overall context of the operation of social welfare schemes.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.