NO basis for claims that welfare fraud prevention produced savings of €645m

More than three quarters of the savings came from correcting errors made by Department of Social Protection staff
Claims that welfare fraud prevention resulted in savings of €645m in 2011 are not supported by the evidence according to Social Justice Ireland.  The most recent study conducted on this issue showed that more than three quarters of the savings came from correcting errors made by staff in calculating people’s entitlements.

The study, entitled ‘Tackling Welfare Fraud’ was published by the Oireachtas Library & Research Service on October 13, 2011. It concluded that only 21.1% of over-payments in the social welfare system were due to fraud. (Study p. 7). 

 
There is no justification for misleading statements that present many of Ireland’s poorest and most vulnerable people as fraudsters when the facts clearly don’t support such a claim.

The vast majority of any over-payments in the welfare system are not caused by fraud but flow from mistakes made by people filling out forms or by the Department’s staff who are under huge pressure as their workload has increased dramatically.

The full text of the 'Tackling Welfare Fraud' study may bedownloaded below