'Significant incidence' of PUP overpayments, welfare review finds

Analysis of the PUP found that 8% of a sample of claims examined had evidence to suggest they weren’t eligible for the payment on the date in question. Picture: Denis Minihane

There is likely to have been a “significant incidence” of overpayments to people in receipt of the pandemic unemployment payment (PUP), as it was warned that “even small levels of payments in excess of entitlements to welfare can amount to significant losses of public funds”.

In a review of social welfare payments, the Comptroller and Auditor General said that a control survey from the Department of Social Protection earlier this year found that just under one in five (18%) jobseekers’ allowance claimants were receiving more than they were entitled to.