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Updated 2.35pm
THE DEPARTMENT OF Social Protection has said there have actually been 11 cases of suspected identity fraud recorded this year, after earlier telling Sinn Féin that there had only been one case.
After it had been reported in the media that only one case had been recorded this year, Minister Leo Varadkar came under criticism for his ’Welfare Cheats Cheat Us All’ campaign which had promised savings for the taxpayer.
This afternoon, a spokesperson for the Department confirmed that the figures provided to Sinn Féin were actually incorrect and that there have been 11 such cases this year.
The advertising campaign, which cost €165,988, is designed to encourage the reporting of suspected or known social welfare fraud.
Sinn Féin TD John Brady had said that the solitary case so far this year, as had been originally stated, shows that Leo Varadkar used the campaign as ”nothing more than an opportunity to launch his leadership bid at the expense of some of the most vulnerable people in society”.
The breakdown of how many people were suspected of identity fraud came from a number of parliamentary questions from Sinn Féin deputies to Minister Varadkar.
Since 2013, 155 cases of suspected identity fraud have been recorded. In 2015, there were a total of 58 cases. Last year, there were 46. By clarifying the true number to April 2017 is 11, it brings the figures more in line with recent years.
While Varadkar had said that reports of suspected social welfare fraud had doubled since launching the campaign, this mostly referred to allegations of working while claiming, cohabiting with a partner who is making a financial contribution, or claiming while living abroad.
The Sinn Féin questions specifically referred to cases where fraud had been attempted by means of a disguise to claim someone else’s benefits.
The facial recognition software used, however, does not record instances where a suspected fraudster used a disguise, the department said.
Exaggerating the impact?
The advertising campaign has come in for heavy criticism from the opposition benches in the Dáil, and on the airwaves, with opponents saying that the campaign targeting welfare fraudsters is disproportionate and that the Minister has exaggerated the problem.
Varadkar has also faced criticism as he campaigned to become Fine Gael leader for the promise that he would be a Taoiseach for people “who get up early in the morning”.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Today with Seán O’Rourke , Bernadette Gorman said she has been involved with the Department of Social Protection for 30 years and has never come across the level of fraud that was claimed by the campaign.
“Fraud would come up from time-to-time but I have to say it was always very miniscule,” she said.
First and foremost I want to speak about how I was trained in the department because I don’t like where the department is going. I do think Leo Varadkar was on some sort of solo run but I don’t know what his officials were doing allowing it.
Despite this criticism, the idea behind the campaign appears to have strong public support.
A Claire Byrne Live/Amarach Research poll found that 64% of people agree that it’s a good idea for the government to ask people to report welfare cheats, despite the backlash it has received.
“The vast majority of people receiving payments from the Department of Social Protection are fully entitled to those payments and are compliant with the conditions. However, we take fraud very seriously and have a responsibility to taxpayers to ensure that people receive what they are entitled to,” the minister said when launching the campaign.
While Varadkar claimed that the department had achieved savings of €506 million as a result of control and anti-fraud measures in recent years, Sinn Féin had said that only one case of identity fraud shows that the scheme will not generate the amount of future savings promised.
TD John Brady added: “So far this year, there has been one suspected case of identity fraud identified by the Department of Social Protection.
This hardly amounts to the millions of euro in savings Minister Varadkar talked of achieving through this campaign.
The party called on the government to end this “dishonest welfare fraud campaign”.
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Unvouched expenses and falsified mileage claims cheats us all
@Padraic O Sullivan: Zappone.
@Padraic O Sullivan:
Identity fraud isn’t the only type of welfare fraud.
I can’t see what the issue is with treating tax and welfare cheats in exactly the same manner. Prosecute both. Publish list of defaulters/fraudsters for both. Have publicity campaigns for both.
Just wish we’d treat all Anglo bankers the same.
@Matt Donovan: Clare Byrne, the shopping trolley watcher is another one. She also got her daughter a social housing apartment, which she quickly let for rent.
That’s fraud.
Doesn’t the bould Pascal cycle to the Dail and claim travel expenses as well.
Let them apply the law equally to all and be seen to. Then and only then can they talk about campaigns.
@Brinster: The big problem here is, this campaign ismaking it socially acceptable to demonise a section of society, while turning a blind eye to all other frauds.
This will effect all welfare recipients, not just cheaters, and when Leo, if he gets to be Taoiseach, decides that a cut to social welfare is needed, the ground work is already done to make such cuts socially acceptable.
@Dave Doyle: That has been the commentary from many, Dave but I just don’t see how it is correct.
They were targeting welfare cheats. Not recipients. Initially the response was “well what about the bankers/Apple etc” which is understandable, but then it seemed to become a political football for only one reason.
It was a campaign run by the person most likely to be next Taoiseach.
Joan Burton ran at least three similar campaigns. They started in earnest in 2009. Numbers being caught averaged 6,000 per year over the last few years. Allegations of “dog whistle” were never leveled at her.
Seems to me the response is highly personal and very disingenuous.
@Brinster: agreed, but we don’t, and more than likely won’t, ever. But people on welfare will be targeted for anger and abuse, labeled as being spongers, too lazy to get out of bed, work shy etc. Nice misdirection to make sure the rightful anger of overtaxed, hard working people is turned away from the source of the problem and set on those least responsible. This slimeball would clearly stoop to any depth to get into power, and since it’s FG that must mean he meets the requirements.
@Brinster: do you really think that people make a clear distinction between welfare recipients and welfare cheats? While some will, just scan some of the commentary on here about welfare recipients to get a taste of how the poorest in society get easily labelled and this campaign reinforces it. Kenny said he would root out abuse in the system and clean up politics, he was going to make real changes….. well we know that wasn’t worth a ball of smoke. Leo is now seeking support to clean up welfare cheats, which will achieve what exactly? Probably less than his campaign cost, which if the money was spent on something really important might have paid for a SNA in a school, maybe two, or supported a struggling voluntary group, such as the homeless, who haven’t gone away, you know.
Vulture Funds, cheat us all
Bankers let go, scott free, cheat us all
Multiple Pensions and golden parachutes, cheat us all….
@eastsmer #IRExit: You’re right.. so we should let everyone else rip us off too
@Ciaran Whyte:
Department of ‘Social Protection’, cheat us all
http://www.thejournal.ie/ombudsman-report-3418214-May2017/
@eastsmer #IRExit:
Grand start your campaigns on those issues then, while we continue to fight against welfare fraud.
@Ciaran Whyte: You prioritise the areas most of the money is going missing from. This government is acting like a supermarket targeting kids stealing sweets from the pick and mix while pallets of stock are going missing from the stock room unquestioned…
@Davin Ryan: prioritise…. yes, absolutely. But you don’t excuse the other
@Ciaran Whyte: You’re right. They are both wrong.
There is social welfare, and some fraud related to it.
There is also corporate welfare, and fraud related to it.
We have limited resources(sometimes by design) so we need to assign resources to recouping the maximum amount of monies for the Irish taxpayers and citizens, and build a credible case which first deters others and secondly gets a sound conviction.
Most social welfare fraud cases will cost more to pursue than the original fraud so simply agreeing a weekly repayment per week or deducting a proportion of payment would be preferable.
Corporate welfare fraud is committed in Ireland by those still lauded by the RTE / Redacted media, and until recently cases would not be resourced or would be designed to fail due to staffing resources or terms of reference/ scope. After tonight, this is about to change.
@eastsmer #IRExit: please funk off Leo you smug arrogant Fu*k!!!
I could name around 150 alone in my hometown .
So why don’t you? The phone number is on the poster.
@DaisyChainsaw: Because he couldn’t..
@Robert Treston: internet user openly admits to withholding information which could lead to the arrest and conviction of 150 people and is surprised when guards call round to his house this evening
@DaisyChainsaw: I am not that kinda person
@Robert Treston: you are a pure spoofer!
@Robert Treston: really? You must be taking notes then, or maybe you have access to confidential data? You know the personal circumstances of at least 150 persons, their claims and the basis for them, what they are awarded and where they are abusing the system? If you’re that well informed you must be unemployed yourself….. or you must have a very sad little life to be so concerned with monitoring your neighbours
Leo the spoofer. It’s all part of his leadership bid’ A lot of reports to social welfare are by those that have a grudge against an other, and Leo knew that it would register high.
@Just Me:
If they’re not actually cheating, then they’ll have nothing to worry about now will they?
@Fred Jensen: Apart from having their only income stopped suddenly and compeletely while everythimg is sorted out.
@Just Me: I am so glad that some one else knows he is a Spoofer.tks
@Neal Ireland Hello.:
Am i supposed to feel sorry for them? There’s plenty of work out there.
@Fred Jensen: yeah how about childcare? Is enough to cover the huge rents? We force the poorest members of our society to be parents and then what? How simplistic of you. It suits.
@Deborah Behan:
“We force the poorest members of our society to be parents”
LOL…Thanks Deborah nearly fell off my chair with laughter.
@Fred Jensen: I live in Kerry which was considered an unemployment blackspot even during the boom years. Not plenty of jobs here
Leo Not another Red Cent Varadkar lied to us?
@Dante Marquinhos:
‘Not another red cent’ AND ‘Isn’t that the type of thing you say in an election’ and ‘Labours way or Frankfurts way’, cheats us all
@eastsmer #IRExit: Indeed, it’s a rich tapestry of lies and deceit!
Identity fraud is only one type of fraud.
You cheat welfare in many ways, i.e. Working while claiming, pretending to be a lone parent, pretending to be disabled etc
@Theunpopularpopulist: I’m not too sure if the target of this article. If reportings, and convictions, for identity theft are massively down, then it makes sense to provide a mechanism to report it. Tying this into the overall welfare fraud campaign seems just to try and discredit one individual for launching a campaign against it, literally weeks ago.
@Theunpopularpopulist: can’t see how u could pretend to b disabled-Don’t u have to b examined by a doctor at least before u would qualify for payment.
@Bennythekid: there’s been plenty of cases in the U.K. where people have claimed to be unable to get out of bed and have been filmed playing golf, on holidays etc
You do have to be signed off by a doctor but some illnesses are somewhat invisible or unprovable – if a patient says they are in agonising pain how do you disprove that?
@Bennythekid: The unpopularist and his ilk would fully support dragging the many desparate people with disabilties through the heartless Irish social welfare system, just as you see here: http://www.thejournal.ie/costly-ineffective-desk-decisions-cause-delays-3362002-May2017/
Causing untold hardship and delay on the many genuine cases where people have been denied what they are entitled to….
@Theunpopularpopulist: yes i saw a few of those cases all right (one lad in particular limping while out shopping and then playing golf-But they were all found out and payment stopped.
@Theunpopularpopulist: you would want a wife and 10 kids to survive on the dole,, teachers earn 14 euro and hour for grinds, so much for retirement they are not Retired,.does anyone Spy on them,.
Leo the Tory with his divide and conquer attitude,the sound of his voice is even annoying.the media has Leo backed to win
How can anybody defraud the dole with the dictator style, Joan Burtons identity cards?
Also the face recognition cameras?
Also the mandatory courses (run by FG&Labour buddies who get paid for making people attend useless courses over and over again even if they have a job interview etc at the time these companies make the same people attend over and over again so they can profit) & & appointments & interviews by DSP staff?
Vulture funds, Apple & many more corporations get billions and billions in welfare & FIS is paid to poverty pay employers too & costs 10 times more than fraud & DSP own error 11-12 times higher than any fraud.Remember the cost of Anglo tapes & trial collapse? Former bank “regulator”??? punishment of 640,000+euro lump sum & annual EARLY pension of 140,000 + euro.
Why doesn’t he set up a campaign for his government cronies and bankers to rat on each other for there dishonest dealings? It would be a lot more beneficial to society than this rubbish
I know sixty that have been leeching off the state for years, doing no work, get paid by the state to sit on their asses while tax payers fund them, the lot can be found occasionally in the senate pretending to be looking for work…
Penalty for getting caught claiming is 5euro a wk taking from future dole payments. Leo is another bully like hogan and Kelly, gun Ho ignorant mentality.
The so called well connected can create situations that cheats everybody man women and child in this country out a better way of life of to the tune of Billions and yet we feel great when we find someone cheating over a tenner and Leo is seen a great protector , What a load of bull****
” only one case of suspected identity fraud has been recorded so far this year.”
And what’s the point of this article, are we supposed to deduce from this that there is only one welfare fraudster in the country?
All this shows is we need to get fire welfare staff who don’t do their job.
@Fred Jensen: Or ministers who lie about their departments.
@Fred Jensen: No but it could be an indicator that this type of fraud is not as prevalent as Leo & the goons in government would have us believe.
In life you either be rich or be part of the benefit claiming community, if your family worked hard to leave the benefit claiming community. They are now in a strange middle community that props up the whole country with no support at all not poor enough nor rich enough to benefit. This needs to be addressed. We need to give more people a reason to move on instead we have made more reasons for people to stay in a benefit claiming community.
@JustMade Ireland: the main reason people stay on benefit is because they have no job or their personal circumstances such as health, or being a parent won’t allow them to work. Outside of some of the major urban centres there are actually very few jobs, limited to no public transport making it mandatory to drive a car, and rising rents everywhere making it impossible to move to a place where there might be employment. Investment in rural Ireland, serious investment that seeks to maintain rural life but also allow enterprise to thrive would make a big difference, but oddly enough Leo never mentioned that. Funny, isn’t it, that his policy is to spend a load of money on a campaign to get him elected, sorry, I mean to catch welfare cheats, made no mention of actually addressing unemployment?
Tax cheats and Banker cheats, cheat us all…
Leo is preying on the weak and vulnerable instead of tackling white collar crime and ensuring they then get a considerable prison sentence instead of getting off like Sean Fitzpatrick et al.
The different between the so called S.W. fraud is that someone might get a couple of hundred € cash in hand once a year, on the other hand the white collared fraudsters get millions in brown envelopes or offshore accounts!
Where oh where did FAŚ go oh f#&k yeah they defrauded us too!
Lower the crime rate instantly by detecting less crime.
Seems that the cost of running the campaign is nearly more than the money the campaign is making. Those hundreds of millions figures are just nonsense. Shows horrendous incompetence and wastage of taxpayers money by the fella who’s set to be next taoiseach!
How much is Coveney’s “renting- the PRTB is here: doh!” Very expensive ad campaign which is running yet again all over the place at the moment.
The government wants to make rats out of there people. And when things go pear shaped the rat will be left to fend for themselves.
awful nonesnce everyone knows a chancer cheating the system ffs
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