13/05/2013

Inspectors Catch "Welfare Tourists" At Dublin Airport

One hundred so-called “welfare tourists” have been caught flying into Dublin Airport in order to sign on for social welfare payments, according to the Irish Independent.

Last May social welfare officers were granted powers to carry out check on people suspected of living elsewhere, but regularly travelling to the State to claim social welfare payments.

An extension of that power now lets inspectors stop people at airports, with Social Protection Minister Joan Burton saying that this was having an impact in fighting welfare fraud.

"In Dublin Airport alone, we're at 100 people who have been stopped and identified and their payments stopped," the Irish Independent reported her as saying.

She added that the addition of the new public services ID card would also have a significant impact.

The card carries a picture of the person claiming social welfare payments.

(MH/CD)


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