A MAJOR clampdown on welfare cheats will save more than half-a-billion euro of taxpayers' money by the end of the year, the Sunday Tribune can reveal.

Over 790,000 systematic reviews of social welfare claims have taken place since the Department of Social Protection crackdown started at the beginning of the year, saving €533m for the exchequer.

The department is achieving unprecedented levels of public support, with over 9,000 individual reports of welfare fraud being made by citizens since the start of 2010. This increase has been aided by the introduction of a range of new methods that allow the public to report suspected fraud anonymously.

The success of the 'get-tough' approach has come about after Minister Eamon Ó Cuív's department put an action plan in place that has seen a dedicated team of 600 special investigators put to work.

Ó Cuív told the Sunday Tribune, "I have a duty to ensure that we're doing all we can to protect those who rely on social welfare most and go after those who are trying to cheat the system."

A system of weekly identity and payment checks has been introduced whereby all new claimants for Jobseeker's Allowance must claim weekly through their local post office and produce photographic ID.

Investigators have also sent direct mailshots to social welfare claimants' addresses to ensure that the addresses are genuine. There has also been a crackdown on non-resident claimants and hundreds of residency checks have taken place every week to ensure residency rules are being followed.

Bogus sickness benefit claimants have been targeted through systematic medical eligibility assessments, including medical tests to ensure that only those who really deserve help on the basis of their medical condition are receiving it.

Vehicle checkpoints have been set up by Department of Social Welfare investigators and officials from other state agencies to specifically target cross-border benefit fraud. In the last year there have been unprecedented levels of cross-border data sharing between Ó Cuív's department and the North's Department for Social Development (DSD) and Britain's Department of Welfare and Pensions (DWP).

The legal prosecution team, which works with authorities such as the gardaí to take cases against those who are engaged in serious or protracted fraud, has carried out record levels of work in recent months.

Particular emphasis has been placed on the clampdown on welfare cheats this year as the government has identified it as a key area where savings can be made.

Ó Cuív added, "The country is going through a difficult period at the moment... Inevitably, this has led to speculation about what will happen to our social welfare budget.

"I set a tough target for finding and stopping welfare cheats and it's why I'm pleased to confirm that, based on nine months of detailed returns for 2010, we're on track to meet the challenging targets I set. It's a very simple formula, every euro that we save by finding and stopping welfare cheats is a euro saved for those families who need it most."

It is hoped that the savings made from the clampdown on welfare cheats will be ring-fenced within Ó Cuív's Social Protection budget to help alleviate the severity of some of the cuts in the budget on 7 December.