Social welfare fraud crackdown nets €206m

A CRACKDOWN on social welfare cheats has netted €206 million in savings for the Government in the first six months of 2005, it was revealed yesterday.

Social Affairs Minister Seamus Brennan said anti-fraud measures implemented by his department’s officials had resulted in additional savings of almost €30m over the same period last year.

More than 230 criminal prosecutions for social welfare fraud have been initiated against offenders in relation to abuses detected since January.