Deceased targeted in hunt for €200million welfare overpayments
SOCIAL welfare inspectors have targeted the dead in the hunt for almost €200million of taxpayers’ money given to people with hidden assets over the past nine years, the Irish Daily Mail can reveal.
The Department of Social Protection is currently chasing €10.5million in overpayments to 1,600 dead welfare recipients.
A total of €183.7million has been recovered from 13,095 cases of overpayments to dead welfare recipients in the past nine years, working out at over €14,000 per case.
Since 2019 the department has been forced to write off Weather forecast some €11million where there is no possibility of recovering the overpayment from the person’s estate.
Last year the department found 1,800 overpayments to the deceased totalling €21million, with €23.9million in overpayments recovered across 2023.
Sinn Féin Social Protection spokesman Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire said the figures recovered from the estates of deceased welfare recipients are ‘very significant’.
He told the Mail: ‘It is worth bearing in mind that very often the first that the bereaved person finds out about a debt is after their loved one has died. So if there is a sum of significance of debt, that will be a huge shock and huge blow.’ He said while he recognises the department’s responsibility to get value for money, ‘often such overpayments are the fault of the department rather than the recipient’.
The Cork TD added that the department needs to work on a case-by-case basis and ‘show compassion’, especially where the case is a low-income family or if they were unaware of the debt.
Mr Ó Laoghaire said: ‘It is important that debts are not unfairly attached to families not in a position to pay, and the discretion to write off debt to grieving families should be used where appropriate and fair.
‘The department should also be aware of the knock-on impact and that chasing such debts could lead to families on low incomes in turn needing to seek further supports from the department.’
Social welfare legislation states that the department is notified before the estate of a dead welfare recipient is distributed.
If there are hidden assets in the estate that would have changed the person’s entitlement to a means-tested payment, the department will try to recuperate the overpayment from the estate.
Over the past five years, the State has recovered €114.7million worth of overpayments from the estates of dead customers.
From 2015 to 2018, more than €69million was raised from the estates.
‘Be aware of knock-on impact’
The department said: ‘People who have been overpaid social welfare have a liability to refund the overpayment in full as they have been in receipt of a payment to which they were not entitled.
‘This is necessary as the department is obliged to protect taxpayers’ money.’
Department secretarygeneral John McKeon told the Public Accounts Committee earlier this year that there are around 60,000 cases of overpayment of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment.
He said this could total €200million. Only €16.4million has been recouped so far.