Detected social welfare fraud is set to exceed €300 million this year - the highest amount yet - according to figures to be published by the Department of Social and Family Affairs this week.
"The figures will show about €75 million has been detected by our anti-fraud measures in the first three months of this year," a spokesman for the Department said yesterday. "It is a significant increase on last year."
He said it was impossible to be certain what the end of year figure would be, given the seasonal nature of welfare payments, but agreed it was on target to be more than €300 million.
A review unit has been established in the Department to examine types of welfare fraud in sequence. The spokesman said it was not yet clear which type would be looked at first.
"It could be lone-parent allowance fraud or unemployment payments fraud. This is just another layer to the level of investigation that is ongoing around the country all the time."
The unit will take batches of about 100 client files and examine them in detail, liaising with the Revenue Commissioners and cross-checking on the levels of payments going to people. The Minister, Ms Coughlan, took the issue "extremely seriously" and wanted to foster a change in public attitudes, he said.
"There is a bit of an attitude that it's all right to fiddle the dole or to get a bit more from the 'social'. But people should be concerned about this type of fraud because there isn't a limited pot of money and money effectively stolen is being taken away from other areas where the money is, obviously, very badly needed.
"At the end of the day it's taking money not from the Department but from genuine single parents and unemployed people who really need it."
The Department of Social and Family Affairs spent €10.5 billion on social welfare payments last year, up from €9 billion in 2001. Last year fraud investigations resulted in the repayment of €283 million worth of welfare payments.
In the first three months of this year, about 80 files on fraud cases have been sent to the Chief State Solicitor. Some 30 people were prosecuted, resulting variously in fines, prison sentences and community service sentences.
