New fraud control measures have been recently introduced by Social Welfare. No one has stopped to complain because the exechequer is so strapped for cash that even the public in yerra sure, stick it to the system, Ireland now think welfare fraud isin’t acceptable.
Under existing provisions, a Social Welfare Inspector may, if accompanied by a member of the Garda Síochána, in uniform, stop a vehicle and question anyone in the vehicle where the inspector reasonably suspects that it is being used for employment or self-employment.
That is fine, because it is the Garda that is stopping the vehicle.
However, the recently enacted Social Welfare & Pensions (No. 2) Act 2009 extends these provisions to provide for similar checkpoints operated by Social Welfare Inspectors and Customs Officers without the need for a Garda presence. It also provides that an Inspector may question any occupants for the purposes of the control of any social welfare payment.
Provision is also made that an officer of the Minister may serve notice on a financial institution requiring them to make available for inspection records which may contain information about possible welfare fraud. I interpret that as meaning that banking privacy is dead in Ireland. I understand it means that a person in receipt of a social welfare benefit, in the past, present or future, in other words anyone, can have their bank records viewed by the Dept of Social Welfare.
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