C&AG: Department of education lost €1.3m to enrolment fraud

In four cases, PPSN information of students who had left the school, or who had not yet started, was used to overstate enrolment numbers. File picture: David Jones/PA

The department of education lost €1.3m to 15 confirmed cases of fraud where schools inflated or overstated enrolment numbers in a bid to retain teachers or have funding increased.

The department has recouped just €53,000 from two schools of the 15 it has investigated since 2010.