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Joan slams social welfare fraudsters for 'giving two fingers to their neighbours'

Tens of millions of euro are overpaid each year.

JOAN BURTON HAS sharply criticised people who knowingly commit social welfare fraud.

“To be perfectly honest, some people who had been involved in fraud were basically giving two fingers to their neighbours, who were going out to work and paying their PRSI, to the department and to Irish society as a whole.”

The Tánaiste stated that committing fraud “really undermines the basic social welfare contract”.

“People at work paying their PRSI don’t want to see money that otherwise, for instance, could go to our pensioners or go to people out of work or go to lone parents, being misused by people who have no entitlement to it.”

Burton admitted there have been “quite a number of cases in recent times” where this has occurred, but said her department is clamping down, citing the facial recognition system used by public service cards.

Last month it emerged the cards have helped uncover 62 cases of “serious identity fraud”. A number of cases are currently being prosecuted in the courts.

joan 24 june Oireachtas.ie Oireachtas.ie

Speaking in the Dáil today, Burton said the total amount of overpayments at her department in 2011 was approximately €92 million. Of this, almost €35 million was due to fraud, around €40 million due to customer error, approximately €6 million related to departmental error and €11 million was in respect of estate cases.

Estate cases arise where undisclosed assets of customers, usually pensioners, come to light after their deaths.

The total value of overpayments in 2012 was €97 million, broken down as follows: almost €41 million was due to fraud, €36 million due to customer error, €8 million due to departmental error and €12 million was in respect of overpayments from estate cases.

In 2013, total overpayments amounted to approximately €127 million. Of this, almost €62 million was due to fraud, over €43 million was due to customer error, approximately €7 million related to departmental error and €15 million was from estate cases.

Burton said figures for 2014 and 2015 to date aren’t available yet.

Getting the money back

Burton noted that she introduced legislation in 2012 that allows a deduction of up to 15% of the weekly personal rate payable to a customer who has made an error or committed fraud.

willie odea 24 june Willie O'Dea Oireachtas.ie Oireachtas.ie

“That means that if a person’s basic rate is €188, up to 15% of that can be deducted. This does not affect payments issuing to the rest of the household or payments like child benefit.

“We can recover up to 15%, giving a deduction of around €25 per week, depending on individual circumstances. Prior to the introduction of that legislation, the department could only recover €2 per week from claimants.”

Burton said the vast majority of people “get exactly what they are entitled to – no more and no less”.

When Fianna Fáil’s Willie O’Dea asked how much of the overpayments have been recovered, the Tánaiste said she would forward the details to him, noting: “The situation has improved significantly.”

Read: €96m could have been overspent in dole payments

Read: Gardaí on hunt to find dole cheats

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    Mute Noel O Mahony
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    Oct 4th 2017, 9:56 PM

    Id say if trump cured cancer people would still have something negative to say about him…give the man a break…

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    Mute Dermot Lane
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    Oct 4th 2017, 10:02 PM

    @Noel O Mahony: what has he done to deserve a break?

    132
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    Mute B9xiRspG
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    Oct 4th 2017, 10:04 PM

    @Noel O Mahony: we would but then he wakes up and tweets something really stupid

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    Mute Ladude
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    Oct 4th 2017, 10:16 PM

    @B9xiRspG: We get it jim , hes stupid , now can we look at why jeremy corbyn won’t denounce venezuela.

    31
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    Mute Dave O Keeffe
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    Oct 4th 2017, 11:17 PM

    @Ladude: because he’s stupid?

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    Mute Ladude
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    Oct 4th 2017, 11:19 PM

    @Dave O Keeffe: Corbyn is pretty smart , just like trump

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    Mute Dave O Keeffe
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    Oct 4th 2017, 11:41 PM

    @Ladude: ha, good one, I see what you did there. Anybody that claims victory while losing is not that bright. Anybody can promise students the world knowing he’ll never be in a position to even attempt to grant it to them

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    Mute Joe Caulfield
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    Oct 4th 2017, 10:02 PM

    Best President since Ronnie Regan.

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    Mute Ollie Mac
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    Oct 5th 2017, 6:54 AM

    @Joe Caulfield: You should try to catch one of his bog rolls that he throws around..

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    Mute Brown Boots
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    Oct 4th 2017, 9:50 PM

    In fairness to old man Donald, he gets around fairly quick to all these disasters. I wonder though, while travelling, does he ever reflect and wonder if he could have had, or have in the. future, influence on all these things happening.

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    Mute Karen Wellington
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    Oct 4th 2017, 9:56 PM

    @Brown Boots: I thought he didn’t believe man-made climate change

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    Mute Ladude
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    Oct 4th 2017, 10:13 PM

    @Brown Boots: In ireland we have had fathers kill their whole family’s, could this have been prevented maybe, but most cases it goes undetected. America is a big big place, and from what I can tell, if someone wants to do something, they will!!

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    Mute Bridget O'Hanlon
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    Oct 4th 2017, 10:16 PM

    @Brown Boots: trump? Reflect? Nah

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    Mute Brown Boots
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    Oct 4th 2017, 10:36 PM

    @Ladude: to be fair and balanced, it’s not just fathers who have done such. Anyway… Back to the point, yes it’s impossible to control everyone and stop such things as the whole Vegas shootings, however, just like everything in life, perhaps there is something to learn from it and something we could’ve done differently to prevent it, not just Trump, only saying him due to his level of influence. How did it get to that… Not just for this instance, but many others. Impossible to please everyone, but, there’s always something we can do better… Much like the second time I read this, I’ll know I could’ve made more sense than this!

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    Mute Ladude
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    Oct 4th 2017, 10:48 PM

    @Brown Boots: Man kills people in horrific attack in america “Europeans crying out for gun ban” Islamic terrorist attacks in Europe multiple times this year alone “We need to be more tolerant” I give up.

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    Mute Ladude
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    Oct 4th 2017, 10:50 PM

    @Brown Boots: I really don’t want to get into the gun debate, because here in Europe we have serious problems. We as people need to start asking honest questions, I believe theirs going to be a point where it’s going to be too late.

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    Mute Brown Boots
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    Oct 4th 2017, 10:54 PM

    @Ladude: did I mention guns? I don’t disagree with your points, much the same we can ask all of us, is there anything we could have done differently in certain situations and what will we learn for next time, some have more influence on change in a global context.

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    Mute Ladude
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    Oct 4th 2017, 11:03 PM

    @Brown Boots: I’m talking more in general about guns, I’ve mentioned the American shooting to a few people in work today, and they mentioned gun control stright away. Most of them just blurt out the frist thing they think of. These things require research, and investigating to come to an informed opinion. The same is happening with Europe atm, they just Base their opinion on what they think is right, but it’s far more complicated than that. And it’s going to cause long lasting damage as we are starting to see.

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    Mute Dave O Keeffe
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    Oct 4th 2017, 11:23 PM

    @Ladude: you’re right, immediately after a mass shooting isn’t the time to think of ways to prevent shootings. Just like immediately after a plane crash isn’t the time to think about airplane safety, or immediately after a four day bender isn’t the right time to think about never drinking again. You have to wait until you’ve locked that feeling away in a box somewhere and can’t remember it to actually decide, possibly during a bender that it’s all good.

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    Mute Ladude
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    Oct 4th 2017, 11:46 PM

    @Dave O Keeffe: Let the Americans worry about their gun laws, not sure what its got to do with Europeans. More people have talked about this shooting than any of the killings in Europe. Why ?

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    Mute Dave O Keeffe
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    Oct 4th 2017, 11:49 PM

    @Ladude: did you say the same on Trump articles where he talked about attacks in Europe? Before you answer remember that all we have to do is look them up. Specifically his comments about a certain mayor in the UK.

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    Mute Dave O Keeffe
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    Oct 4th 2017, 11:50 PM

    @Ladude: also, me might as well talk about it because you can be damn sure the American government won’t

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    Mute Dave O Keeffe
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    Oct 4th 2017, 11:54 PM

    @Ladude: and also Europe’s population is double that of the US. There are more gun homicides in the US than there are “these killings in Europe” each year.

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    Mute Ladude
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    Oct 5th 2017, 12:36 AM

    @Dave O Keeffe: And your point ?

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    Mute Brown Boots
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    Oct 5th 2017, 5:19 AM

    @Ladude: completely missed the point I was trying to make but anyway… I’m not bothered to go back to it…

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    Mute Dave O Keeffe
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    Oct 5th 2017, 7:43 AM

    @Ladude: there were several. Which are you not getting?

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    Mute Dermot Lane
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    Oct 4th 2017, 9:50 PM

    He just keeps getting the tone wrong every single time. Moron is right.

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    Mute JimmyMc
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    Oct 4th 2017, 10:45 PM

    @Dermot Lane: it really doesn’t matter what tone he takes. People who have achieved absolutely nothing and created little more than a twitter account in their life will still call the billionaire who outflanked the establishment to become US president a moron.

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    Mute Gus McIntosh
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    Oct 5th 2017, 5:57 AM

    I’d say the tone is very important. He upped the stakes when he took office and he seems to finally be understanding that this is a role that requires a huge amount of empathy and tact. Not easy for a natural narcissist.

    Unfortunately his words and behaviour that go before just make his performances of the “caring president” seem disingenuous. A difficult man to like has to do a damn good job to win people over, so he has his work cut out, no doubt!

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    Mute Brian O Reilly
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    Oct 4th 2017, 11:11 PM

    If the USA ,is so adamant in keeping the second amendment,which allows the right to bear arms ,then it should be the firearms that where available at the time of writing the Constitution That would satisfy the NRA ,and cut down on the fatalities when some middle aged white guy goes berserk,he’d soon get pissed off reloading his flintlock musket.There problem solved

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    Mute Ladude
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    Oct 4th 2017, 10:21 PM

    Trump on the brain , but keep them coming, let the intellectuals on here give their intellectual opinions of him which are usally “stupid” “moron” “How can this man be president” etc… Thats the sort of level of intellectual criticism they give. Hardly substantial.

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    Mute Joe Caulfield
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    Oct 4th 2017, 10:28 PM

    @Ladude: Indeed. The Puerile. ie would be a more appropriate name for this site.

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    Mute Ladude
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    Oct 4th 2017, 10:41 PM

    @Joe Caulfield: I really think the journal is responsible for creating a political divide, by not reporting on many issues broadly and fairly. The level of journalism is just lazy and unimagitive. Of course I know they are a left leaning news outlet. But more intresting spins on the same stories would be refreshing and people might learn something instead of being in a echo chamber.

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    Mute Joe Caulfield
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    Oct 4th 2017, 10:58 PM

    @Ladude: Perish the thought.

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    Mute Dave O Keeffe
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    Oct 4th 2017, 11:47 PM

    @Ladude: he did well. An A performance. Change professionalism to heroism and it’s an A+

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    Mute stefanovich
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    Oct 5th 2017, 6:04 AM

    @Ladude: They should be forced to read the Spectator for homework.

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    Mute Ken Pepper
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    Oct 4th 2017, 10:42 PM

    Unless they are trans and/or Mexican

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    Mute Rachel Hororwitz
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    Oct 5th 2017, 10:30 AM

    I really don’t understand the media reaction to this terrible massacre.

    They’re wondering about the motive?

    It’s a mystery?????

    It’s an attack by a leftist, anti-immigration, Trump hater.

    The attack was on a country music concert.

    The people at country music concerts are predominantly white and conservative.

    I looked at the shooters facebook page soon after the murders.

    He was a democrat supporting, anti-immigration leftist.

    If a conservative person had shot up a rap concert and killed 59 black people in Detroit or Chicago, or attacked a meeting of the democrat party, or massacred left-wing antifa protestors, like those who were at the Charlotteville rally a few weeks ago, the media would have gone insane.

    Why isn’t this reported properly?

    The lying media….

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    Mute David Cagney
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    Oct 4th 2017, 11:54 PM

    Yawn, america, don’t live there, don’t want to. It’s a Kinehin state, let them all kill each other. Pass the kitchen roll and praise the lord…

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    Mute Frederic Slimane
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    Oct 6th 2017, 8:57 PM

    has he been using air force 1?i thought he said he would use his own private jet??

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