Domestic violence survivor claims social welfare inspector watching her home

A letter, seen by the 'Irish Examiner', said officers had been observing the woman's home. Stock Image.

A social welfare inspector told a victim of domestic violence that her home was being watched and asked for her children's baptismal certificates in order to prove she was a single parent.

The woman, aged in her 20s, moved to an area of Dublin after Christmas for her own safety after being attacked by her ex-partner and was quickly notified of a review of her single-parent payment.

A letter, seen by the Irish Examiner, from the local Intreo service noted that officers had been observing the woman's home and a "car has been observed following numerous late night and early morning observations", despite the woman's explanation that the father of her children parks his car outside her home as she lives in fear of her violent ex-partner.

The letter goes on to ask for the car insurance details of the car, which she does not own, as well as correspondence from the hospitals where her three children were born. They ask for baptismal certificates and details of her children's godparents, as well as details of any foreign travel she undertook from 2013 onwards, details of how she pays for her TV provider, bins, and other utilities.

The officer attached a social media post, which was deleted some time ago, of her relationship status with her previous partner and asked for details of this relationship.

"I suffer with anxiety as a result of the extremely abusive relationship I was in, and have PTSD, so I offered letters from my doctor and gardaí to the inspector to explain why I moved and why my ex-partner parks outside my house," the woman said.

"The inspector has been really intimidating." 

The mother said she was accused of not filling out forms that she says she didn't receive and the inspector didn't want to hear it when she explained.

After failing to receive the forms, the woman's payment was stopped for nine weeks.

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She says she has been asked about her relationship with her children's father regularly and has detailed how often he sees his children.

"I said I was open to a home inspection. I have nothing to hide but I don't open my door because I live in fear of my ex, so I asked could she let me know if she was coming."

A spokesperson for the Department of Social Protection said the woman's experience appears "to be outside normal control and inspection processes."

"In order to protect public monies and ensure that they are properly discharged in the manner provided for by the Oireachtas, the department is required to, and does, undertake a variety of control inspections and checks on all its schemes and we seek to do so in a proportionate and respectful manner," a statement said.

"The department would therefore be very anxious for this lady to contact us directly."