PPS fraud - Department brought this one on itself
That is a crucial number because it is a person’s public identity number which can be used to claim social welfare, gain working status, open a bank account, get a credit card and claim health benefits.
Despite its importance in establishing one’s identity, and its potential role in identity theft, the Department of Social and Family Affairs, which issues PPS numbers, is unable to check if a non-national applicant is on the system or not, and cannot cancel a number if that person leaves the country.
In the past six years it has issued PPS numbers to more than 650,000 non-nationals, so the extent of the problem is possibly colossal.
The PPS computer base is not large enough to screen foreign names to prevent duplication, although this does not apply in the case of a person with an Irish name.
Consequently, it is hardly surprising that the department’s ability to recoup bogus payouts has fallen when its computer system is fundamentally flawed.
While its anti-fraud measures resulted in €200 million being recovered in the first six months of this year, it was still €6m less than the amount recovered in the same period last year.
It is incredible to think that a department with a budget of about €12 billion has a computer system, issuing the crucial PPS numbers, which is wide open to fraud because it cannot recognise foreign names.
What is extraordinary is that the department has largely ignored measures suggested by the Comptroller and Auditor General 12 months ago, when he warned about the abuse of the system in his annual report.
Social Affairs Minister Seamus Brennan has previously admitted that welfare fraud in the system was in excess of €600 million annually, which illustrates that the problem is a considerable one.
So substantial is it that the department has 600 staff working in the area of fraud detection which is a reflection of just how serious it is.
The department brought this major headache upon itself when in 2000 it took over responsibility for issuing the PPS numbers from the Revenue Commissioners. Even then, a random sample of numbers taken showed that 10% were fraudulently claimed.
More recently, in one month last year, over 40 duplicated numbers were issued from just one office alone.
This highlights one of the problems the department has so far failed to come to grips with. A measure has been agreed with the unions to centralise the issuing of the numbers to one office per county, rather than 120 offices. Although this would reduce inconsistencies, it has not been implemented for the simple reason no money has been allocated for it by the department.
This is a completely short-sighted approach and is consistent with the department’s claim that it is planning to introduce changes. Given that the problem has existed for years, and is a serious one that is ongoing, it is long past the planning stage.
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