Tip-offs included… Enda!

THE Taoiseach and a number of Ministers were among those reported for welfare fraud – with officials fielding more than 53 tip-offs a day.

While the majority of tip-offs led to follow-up investigations, assistant secretary at the Department of Social Protection Kathleen Stack, said there was been some malicious reporting through the department’s new anonymous reporting system.

‘We’ve had a handful of cases where people have been reporting everybody from the Taoiseach to various ministers,’ she said.

In total, 98,000 tip-offs were received over the last five years, according to figures obtained by this newspaper. Three-in-four of these resulted in follow-up investigations by welfare officials.

Despite the high number of tip-offs, the conviction rate for social welfare fraud has been relatively low, with an average of 304 people being convicted under the Social Welfare and Criminal Justice Acts each year.

Some 60% of these are convicted under the Social Welfare Act, which has a maximum fine of €2,500 and/or six months in prison.