Families in receipt of child benefit could come under scrutiny by home inspectors, it emerged today.
The Department of Social and Family Affairs admitted the recent growth of migration to Ireland and new child benefit schemes is making it increasingly difficult for officials to control payments.
The move - which may also include more correspondence to parents - would catch more rogue and fraudulent claimants.
"The department is actively considering the adequacy of the control arrangements with a view to improving them," said Bernadette Lacey, director general, Department of Social and Family Affairs.
She said the frequency of mail shots and letters to those in receipt may be increased, and possibly followed up by home visits.
"This is not something we have done in the past," she told the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social and Family Affairs. "But the value of payments are that much more now we might take that kind of approach."
Ms Lacey slammed recent headlines reporting that €6.5 million was missing in an immigrant child allowance blunder as inaccurate and misleading.
She said the figure relates to over payments during a five-year period - from 2001 to 2005 - and represents all Child Benefit payments with the majority of those in respect of Irish children who left the state.
Ms Lacey said although the department does not believe that any level of overpayment is acceptable, the sum is less than 1 per cent of payments which totalled some €7.76 billion during that time.
The department is notified of new births by an automated computer system, but for children coming from other countries relevant documentation is needed and checks carried out with the authorities concerned.
"It is only over the last two years that non Irish people who have come here looking for work have claimed child benefit," she continued.
"During 2005, 46 per cent of overpayments arose from children having left the state. We do not have a breakdown of how many were Irish and how many were other nationals.
"There isn't any way we can trace people coming in to or leaving the country and there is no way of recovering a payment once someone has left the state.
"Overpayments are kept on records and if they return to the country we try and pursue them at that stage. Unfortunately people are well versed and as we close one loophole down they find another."
Ms Lacey told the committee income support payments have jumped from €5.3 billion in 2000 to a million people a week receiving €13bn in total last year.
Some 28,500 Respite Care Grants have been paid out so far in 2006 - with nine new temporary employees currently dealing with the backlog of applications - 26,000 Carers' Allowance claims, and pensions payments have also increase with more than 300,000 people currently benefiting from different pensions.