DOLE SCAM CRACKDOWN NETS €540K IN KERRY

A CRACKDOWN on dole fraud in Kerry netted the government almost €540,000 last year.

According to new figures released by Social Protection Minister Leo Varadkar – on foot of a Dáil question from Tipperary Independent TD Mattie McGrath – they reveal that €539,505 in payments made to fraudulent dole claimants was recovered in Kerry in 2015.

The Department of Social Protection’s clamp down on dole scammers led to the recovery of almost €27 million nationally with most of the fraudsters illegally claiming Jobseekers Allowance and Jobseekers Benefit.

In all, the Department was able to recover over half of the €48.9 million lost to dole fraud last year.

Meanwhile, the most recent Live Register figures published by the Central Statistics Office show unemployment is continuing to fall in the county.

The figures for May showed Kerry’s Live Register fell by 409 to stand at 10,710. That represents a fall of 1,586 on the previous year.

Of Kerry’s seven social welfare offices only Tralee – which also deals with claimants from the Castleisland area – saw an increase, going up by 31 to 4,961.

The largest fall was, predictably, seen in tourism hotspot Killarney where the register fell by 189 to 1,588.

In Cahersiveen the register fell by 23 to 381; Dingle’s register fell by 89 to 551; Kenmare’s dropped 67 to 300; Killorglin’s tally fell by 43 to 832 and in Listowel there was a fall of 28 to 2,097.

It is most likely that seasonal employment trends, emigration and a wider economic recovery will have played in the decline.

Kerry Fine Gael TD Brendan Griffin said the drop in the Kerry Live Register – which has fallen by 37 per cent in the last four years – was “a strong indication” that the government’s 2012 Action Plan for Jobs is working.