UK-based families have been fraudulently obtaining Irish child benefit by falsely claiming residence at Irish addresses, Extra.ie has learned, reports Extra.
These families travel to Ireland to register their new-borns, falsely asserting the birth occurred at home in Ireland, before attending a HSE postnatal check-up.
They then return to the UK and continue receiving child benefit payments, while skipping essential follow-up developmental checks for their children, reports Extra.
Extra.ie understands that several such cases have recently emerged as Tusla conducts welfare assessments on 42,000 children following the deaths of Kyran Durnin and Daniel Aruebose.
Fine Gael TD and chair of the Oireachtas Social Protection Committee, John Paul O’Shea, said this week that fraud in the social welfare system has “no place”, reports Extra.
The Cork representative told Extra that he plans to raise the issue at committee level. A source familiar with the matter told Extra that investigations have revealed payments being made to families with no history of living in Ireland.
“Basically, UK-based families use a friend’s address or a made-up address. They then register the baby here, claiming they have had a home birth. The baby is brought to a clinic for a postnatal appointment, but follow-up calls to arrange appointments with public health nurses go unattended,” reports Extra.
These families continue to make excuses for missed appointments, prolonging the deception.
“Now the State is reviewing cases of children, we’ve learned that the children were never really here,” reports Extra.
Extra understands that both Tusla and gardaí have informed the Department of Social Protection about multiple cases in recent weeks. One case involved a baby unseen for two years.
When registering the birth, the parents gave a false address in Tallaght. Later, when the HSE attempted to follow up with developmental checks, the parents claimed to be living in Galway.
Eventually, Tusla was informed, and after the family failed to cooperate, the child was reported missing to gardaí, reports Extra.
Investigators later discovered the family was living in Leeds, UK, and had never resided in Ireland.
A source explained: “It turns out they were never here. They all live in Leeds. They flew into Shannon and out of Dublin in 24 hours to register the baby, sign on and see the nurse. For two years, they were fraudulently claiming welfare,” reports Extra.
The source added that it’s unsurprising child benefit payments continued for Kyran Durnin and Daniel Aruebose long after they were last seen alive.
“The system is open to abuse. We have children dead and parents still claiming welfare. We have children who were never really here and their parents claiming children’s allowance. In reality, it has been happening with criminals for years,” reports Extra.
“Gardaí would catch criminals who provided addresses in the North or UK and we would tell the Department of Social Protection and they’d stop paying. In recent times, the Department of Social Protection has been informed of cases by gardaí and Tusla, but the payments have continued. It is very frustrating,” they said, reports Extra.
The same source described the problems with the system as “substantial”.
“Word spread recently among communities in the UK how easy it is to fraudulently claim Irish welfare. The border access between the UK and Ireland has, of course, facilitated this,” reports Extra.
Last year, we revealed that child benefit payments for Kyran Durnin continued even while he was missing.
Gardaí believe the boy was murdered two years before he was officially reported missing.
A source close to the investigation into Kyran’s death explained how officials at the Child and Family Agency believed reports that the child had moved abroad, and his child benefit continued to be paid, reports Extra.
Meanwhile, in the case of Daniel Aruebose—whose remains were discovered last week in a Dublin wasteland four years after his death—it has also emerged that child benefit payments continued.
His disappearance came to light only when an application was made to continue receiving the payment from the Department of Social Protection.
Gardaí were alerted in August by Tusla after it emerged that Daniel’s whereabouts were unknown, reports Extra.
A source remarked: “Is it any wonder the State is losing track of children when we are paying out for children who were flown in and out of the country to claim welfare? The system is open to abuse,” reports Extra.
Earlier this year, Cork NorthWest TD John Paul O’Shea asked Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary to provide a breakdown of child benefit paid to recipients living outside Ireland.
He confirmed that more than 3,000 individuals not residing in Ireland are receiving child benefit for over 6,000 children. That equates to approximately €866,000 in monthly child benefit, or €10.4 million annually, reports Extra.
Altogether, people in 22 different countries receive these payments. The majority of claims come from UK citizens living in Ireland, with 1,310 people claiming benefit for 2,695 children.
In response to inquiries this week, a spokesperson for the Department of Social Protection said it is committed to ensuring that only those entitled to receive social welfare payments are paid, reports Extra.
“A range of verification processes are employed to validate and verify the information provided by an applicant when making a claim. In addition, claims in payment, including child benefit are also subject to regular review where the claimant must prove that they remain eligible for the scheme,” reports Extra.
A Tusla spokesperson told Extra: “Where the agency has a concern that illegal activity has taken place, we refer it to the relevant authority,” reports Extra.
No response was received from the Garda Press Office.
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