Identity cards to help clamp down on welfare fraud

Social Protection will process over 500,000 new identity cards this year to help clamp down on fake welfare claims following a special investigation which resulted in savings of over €550,000.

Operation Filter was carried out to identify cases and claims where fraudulent identities were potentially being used for the purposes of claiming social welfare payments. Investigators examined suspect claims which resulted in the savings when 36 social welfare payments were stopped and disallowed.

The operation was undertaken by the department’s special investigation unit and client identity service.