Over €5m in social welfare wrongly paid out last year to people who are now dead has either been written off or not been repaid.
A report by the Department of Social Protection revealed that over €14m was lost due to estate overpayment cases- where the person dies before repayments are made.
A total of €2.2m has been written off while no repayments are being made on just over €3m of the outstanding money.
However, almost €9m has been recouped by the Government.
Following the death of a social welfare recipient who owes a debt, the Department of Social Protection may have a claim on any estate remaining
The figures were revealed in the Department’s annual report for its 2018 Compliance and Anti-Fraud Strategy.
It shows that more than €81m was recovered from customers who were overpaid in the past, while over 300 more serious cases of social welfare offences and suspected fraud activities were being investigated by gardai.
The Department’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU)- which has gardai attached to it- also made controls savings of nearly €63 million from anti-fraud activities.
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