The “archaic” social benefit system needs to be simplified and made more transparent, according to government consultant Maurice Mullard, who is heading a ministerial task force analysing a report that exposed benefit fraud.
The performance audit report, by the Auditor General, has also been referred to the Police Commissioner for investigation, Social Solidarity Minister Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca said.
They were speaking during a press conference in which they discussed the report, tabled in Parliament on Tuesday.
It gives examples of cases of blatant abuse that included the case of a boxer who received €21,465 in benefits for the visually impaired, despite having his own business. When the authorities did eventually find out, they did not seek to recover the money, the report stated.
Yesterday, Ms Coleiro Preca said that the report, which looked at the period between 2010 and 2012, was “an eye-opener”.
She stressed that her ministry had been working on addressing the inefficiencies at the Social Security Department since she became minister in March 2013.
We will look at ways to curb abuse so that wecan increase the benefits for vulnerable groups
Back then she found that the department lacked both human resources and policies.
This included a lack of an integrated ICT policy to ensure that the various departments communicated efficiently.
Ms Coleiro Preca said she had set up an internal working group to draw up a single means-testing mechanism. As things stand today, means testing for different social benefits is calculated in different ways, causing unnecessary complications and inefficiencies.
The Social Security Department had also started working on improving cooperation with the Public Registry, to ensure that newborns were registered immediately, she said.
Cooperation was also being improved with the Employment and Training Corporation. This would ensure that, if someone receiving benefits started a job, the information would be relayed immediately.
Better cooperation was also being sought with banks and with the Tax Compliance Unit. The pink card, which entitled people to free medicine, would start being immediately computerised from district offices.
The minister stressed that the Auditor General’s report did not only speak about abuse but also about inefficiencies. In cases of abuse, the government referred the matter to the police but it was also trying to tackle inefficiencies.
Giving one example, she told the story of a widow who was on social benefits and whose children did not work.
When one of her sons started working she went to inform the department but this information was not registered.
Some years later the woman received a letter informing her that she owed the department €32,600. She was desperate, the minister said.
She said that part of the duties of the task force, led by Prof. Mullard, would be to take on the Auditor General’s recommendations and ensure these things did not happen.
Prof. Mullard added: “We will look at ways to curb abuse so that we can increase the benefits for vulnerable groups.”