€300,000 saved in cross-border welfare crackdown

Social Welfare Inspectors have saved around €300,000 in a crackdown on cross-border fraud.

Since March, checkpoints have been set up in the border counties in a bid to stop people travelling from the North to claim social welfare here.

To date, 24 claims have been suspended as a result of the checkpoints, while other customers whose claims had not yet been paid have stopped pursuing them.

Local social welfare offices say there has been a marked decrease in the number of new claims from people who live in the North.