Compliance and Anti-Fraud Strategy 2014 - 2018

Strategy

All of the annual reports in relation to the Compliance and Anti Fraud Strategy are available here Annual Reports: Compliance and Anti Fraud Strategy

Introduction

In 2015, the Department spent close to €20 billion in social welfare payments and provided income support to nearly 1.6 million people each week. The vast majority of people supported by the Department are receiving their appropriate entitlement and this is well recognised. Nevertheless, tackling fraud and abuse of the social welfare system is a key priority for the Department and ensures that resources are targeted at the people who most need them and that taxpayers have confidence and trust in the social welfare system as a whole.

To this end, a range of measures to prevent and detect fraud and enhance controls across the Department’s various schemes are set out in the Compliance and Anti-Fraud Strategy which covers the period 2014 – 2018. The Strategy has three overarching aims:

• to stop fraud entering the system in the first place
• to increase the likelihood of finding incorrect or fraudulent claims and quickly correcting these
• to strengthen the sanctions for those who are caught.

This report looks at the key outcomes for 2015 and sets targets for 2016 across the various areas. The headline figures for both years are set out at the end of this report.