Government to target Ireland’s ‘hidden society’
A briefing note from the Department of Social Protection for Minister Joan Burton outlines some of the measures to be employed to achieve more savings.
It states that a “key priority” for the Department’s Special Investigation Unit (SIU) “will be active policing of the hidden economy sector where there is a prevalence of social welfare and abuse”.
The sectors to be targeted include markets, couriers, clothes recycling, car valeting, the security sector, haulage, restaurants and fast food businesses, satellite and TV installers and even newspaper distribution. It also reveals that the taxi sector will be targeted, following agreed joint-operations with the Taxi Regulator.
People engaged in multiple claiming or impersonating others will also be a focus of investigations, with criminal proceedings taken against anyone found guilty.
Other target areas include non-residency, non-Irish nationals, a review of 1,250 Disability Allowance claims and people “whose lifestyle and display of wealth or assets are not commensurate with social welfare dependency”.
The need to save money across the department is made clear in the lengthy briefing note. The figures show that at the end of last year the Appeals Office had 20,724 cases on its hands — more than it had at the start of the year despite efforts to reduce the backlog.
The Office finalised 28,166 cases last year — 10,000 more than it did in 2009.
Total expenditure last year was €21bn, and the note states: “It should be noted that the 2011 estimate is based on an average weekly Live Register of 405,000 in 2011. The live register was 444,299 at the end of February.”
In addition, the number of prosecutions pursued by the department last year and finalised in court rose to 356, compared to 328 in 2009, although the number of cases received fell.
