News
Major crackdown on cross border welfare scammers
Category: General
A major crackdown on cross border social welfare abuse has been launched by Special Investigators attached to the Department of Social and Family Affairs. At two recent multi-agency checkpoints in Co. Louth, the drivers and occupants of 53 cars were questioned by Social Welfare Inspectors and intensive follow up actions are being taken in 22 of these cases. More frequent checkpoints are planned in the coming weeks along the border counties.
Minister Mary Hanafin T.D., today said that those people “who try to rip-off the Irish taxpayer by claiming to be entitled to social welfare payment, when in fact they are seeking to defraud the State, will be stopped and dealt with appropriately by the relevant agencies and authorities.
This issue was recently raised at the North South Ministerial Council meeting, and welfare fraud is something that we take very seriously. It is also something that my Oireachtas colleagues have been highlighting in the past couple of months, as they are seeing and hearing from their constituents that individuals are travelling from Northern Ireland into social welfare offices in the border counties and claiming to be resident on this side of the border, when in fact this is not the case.
Our agencies are co-operating with the relevant authorities in Northern Ireland and there is regular contact between the two areas on tackling fraud.
The multi agency checkpoints have been a feature of investigations over the past number of months, but now the priority that we are concentrating on is claims for Jobseekers Benefit and Jobseekers Allowance. Over the coming weeks and months more checkpoints will be in place in counties right along the border.”
Live Register figures show that in recent months social welfare offices along the border have seen an unprecedented increase in claims. In addition to these highly visible checkpoints, Minister Hanafin said “ more rigorous checks on residency and other qualifying conditions are being applied for those who were in employment in Northern Ireland and are now claiming to be living and seeking work in the Republic. Locally based Social Welfare Inspectors review all claims of residency and engage in unannounced home visits to claimants. If it is found that they are not living at the address they have provided, their claims are not allowed or if they are in payment it is stopped.”
Minister Hanafin said that so called “welfare tourism” can seem attractive when there is a differential between the rates paid in NI and in the Republic and when the euro/sterling differential has narrowed. “We cannot allow our system to be abused when people right across the country, who have paid social insurance, are now losing their jobs and are seeing their incomes drop significantly as they claim their entitlements. The recent Exchequer figures and Live Register figures show just what demands there are on our resources. My main priority is to ensure that we can continue to support those have a right to claim a payment.”
The Minister praised the close co-operation that was forthcoming from all the agencies involved in the checkpoints, the most recent of which took place this week in Co Louth. “This type of investigative work is very intensive, but the highly skilled Investigators working on tackling fraud are playing a vital part in countering social welfare abuse and protecting the States’ finances .”
