Social benefits abuse crackdown saves €10 million in two years

The public purse saved €10 million in social benefits between 2021 and 2022 following a crackdown on abuse, Social Policy Minister Michael Falzon said on Monday.

Inspections carried out by the Benefits Compliance Unit identified 2,233 cases of abuse, leading to savings of €4.9 million in each of the years. Falzon said benefits stopped being paid and overpayment notices issued.

Falzon said that around half of new applications for non-contributory social benefits contained wrong information and were turned down because they surpassed the means test threshold.

Since 2012, almost 11,000 cases of abuse were identified, leading to global savings of €43.8 million.

Falzon said government was willing to support the vulnerable but would never allow abuse to take place. “We have achieved a lot of social success over the past few years but at the same time we ensured transparency and accountability, to make certain that social benefits go to those who truly need them,” he said.