Govt saves €669m in social welfare clampdown

on 08/03/2013 11:01:24

More than 28,000 people reported allegations of social welfare fraud last year - up from almost 17,000 in 2011.

The Department of Social Protection saved €669m through a clampdown on social welfare fraud last year - exceeding the target set, by over €20m.

More than a million reviews of social welfare claims were carried out, and most of the savings came from reviews of One Parent Family Payments, Pensions, Jobseekers, Illness, and Child Benefit payments.

The Department has set a new target of €710m in savings for this year.