The Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs identified £14.5 million of fraudulent claims in 1997, representing 0.33 per cent of the £4.3 billion spent last year on social assistance and social insurance.
This represents an increase of 6.4 per cent over the 1996 figure of fraudulent claims detected by the Department.
Just one person was jailed for social welfare fraud, with a further six having jail sentences suspended on appeal. Seventy-five offenders were fined a total of £17,895; four were given community service orders; 15 got the Probation Act; and 18 had the case proven against them but had no pen alty imposed.
However, the Department also believes it has saved some £76 million through measures to control fraud, including the review of 465,000 claims and visits to 7,700 employers to check PRSI compliance.
Of 41,173 claimants for illness payments who were given medical examinations, for example, over 20 per cent were deemed to be fit for work. Almost 20 per cent of old age pension claimants reviewed had their payments reduced or terminated.
The highest number of fraudulent claims was for unemployment assistance, for which 6,494 people improperly obtained £6.4 million - about £1,000 each.
A more lucrative fraudulent claim appears to be for non-contributory old age and blind persons' pensions. A total of 445 people claimed £3.87 million in 1997, amounting to some £8,700 each on average. The most lucrative was for the deserted wife's allowance - two women received £21,000 between them.
The Central Prosecution Service processed 329 cases in 1997. Of these, 245 cases (231 criminal and 14 civil) were forwarded to the Chief State Solicitor's Office for prosecution, of which five were sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions for consideration of indictment proceedings.