Crackdown on welfare fraud saves €345m

ALMOST €345 million was saved in a crackdown on welfare fraud and payments made in error in the first seven months of 2011, the Government revealed yesterday.

Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton said the savings came after a review of 350,000 individual social welfare claims.

The news came ahead of further measures aimed at limiting the possibility of welfare fraud, including a fraud control plan to be launched in September.