Amount owed in overpaid benefits to top €500m

The amount of debt owed to the Department of Social Protection due to overpaid benefits is likely to top €500m this year — and it has admitted it may have to write-off or cancel tens of millions of historic debt.

The huge debt is owing to the department from people overpaid benefits and the figure has risen by more than €60m in just two years.

The department’s most recent annual report under its Compliance and Anti-Fraud Strategy shows that as of the end of last December, customer debt owed to the department was valued at €482.5m, involving 174,000 people. In the 2015 annual report, the debt level stood at approximately €437m, while in 2014, it stood approximately €421m.