Ombudsman: Pursuit of social welfare overpayments wasn't 'poverty-proofed'

Some people were put into "extremes of poverty" by the recovery of social-welfare overpayments, the Ombudsman Peter Tyndall has said following the publication of a new report today.

The Ombudsman analysed the recovery of social-welfare overpayments by the Department of Social Protection as a result of a big increase in the number of complaints his office was receiving.