Taxpayer foots bill for more than €15m worth of incorrect welfare payments

The Department of Social Protection said overpayments of welfare were written off — either partially or in-full — when there was 'no prospect of future recovery' of the cash. File picture: Sasko Lazarov/RollingNews.ie

The taxpayer has been left to foot the bill for more than €15m worth of incorrect welfare payments over the past two years.

A total of €7.97m in benefits were written off last year, up more than €300,000 on the equivalent figure of €7.64m from 2023.

The Department of Social Protection said overpayments of welfare were written off — either partially or in-full — when there was “no prospect of future recovery” of the cash.

It said 75% of these payments related to people who were deceased, while other overpayments of less than €100 were considered uneconomical to pursue.

The department said that when a write-off takes place, it could be re-examined if the financial circumstances of the person involved changed for the better.

An information note said: “[We operate] a structured debt management policy in line with normal good practice in recovery of overpayments, including yearly statements issued to customers.” 

Data released under freedom of information shows that nearly €3.1m of the money written off last year related to the non-contributory state pension.

A further €1.44m was deemed irrecoverable from the contributory State pension, as well as around €841,000 in illness benefits.

Other payments where there were six-figure write-offs included invalidity pensions, jobseekers’ benefit, pensions for widows or widowers, and one-parent family payments.

Overpayments

The department said that during the same period of 2023 and 2024, there had been welfare overpayments totalling €273m.

There was a sharp increase in overpayments last year, a total of €157.5m as compared to a twelve-month figure of €115.8m in 2023.

The department said these could occur where false or misleading information was provided by a person seeking a benefit payment.

It said overpayments could also be caused by error, either on behalf of the applicant or by the department itself.

“Persons who have been overpaid social welfare have a liability to refund the overpayment as they have been in receipt of a payment to which they were not entitled,” said an information note.

“Overpayments in any given year represent less than 0.5% of total expenditure.” 

The highest overpayments last year were recorded on the pandemic unemployment payment, the State pension, and jobseekers’ allowance.

The department said that in 2023, it had recovered more than €87m worth of overpaid welfare payments.

Last year, that figure rose to just over €100m, according to records released under freedom of information laws.

A note said: “Where an overpayment occurs, the department seeks to recover the full value of the overpayment.

“Because of the potential impact of overpayment recovery on customers with limited means, appropriate controls are required to ensure fairness and reasonableness.” 

The department said if a person was still in receipt of a welfare payment, deductions of up to 15% were the norm.

If the person involved was now in full-time employment but declined to repay the money, the department said it would consider making “an attachment of earnings order” for automatic deductions from their bank account.

The department said it would always work with customers to ensure there was no “undue financial hardship” in any plan for recoupment of cash.