A TD has called for safeguards to be put in place after parliamentary figures revealed that there have been 120,000 reports of suspected welfare fraud from the public since 2020.
Carol Nolan, Independent TD for Offaly, assessed the figures, which she said were “staggering.”
She called for the State’s welfare budget to be protected from abuse.
The statistics show that there were 14,909 reports of welfare fraud from January 2026 up until last month. In 2025, there were 18,792 reports. In 2024, the figure was higher, at 19,191.
Anonymous tip offs from the public peaked in 2021 when 21,626 reports were made.
20,092 reports were made in 2020.
It means that 53 reports have been made per day for the last six years.
It follows the imprisonment of a Ukrainian woman who was last week convicted of fraudulently claiming welfare in Ireland for two years.
The 51-year-old was jailed for flying in and out of Ireland to collect social welfare every fortnight for six months, despite never having lived here.
Carol Nolan TD told Gript: “The vast majority of people accessing welfare do so in the spirit in which it was designed, as a social safety net in times of need.
“However, there is a growing cohort of people who brazenly flout the law around eligibility and see the system as a soft touch. These are the people I have no time for,” said Deputy Nolan.
“I want the social welfare and social protection budget protected for those who are experiencing legitimate need.
“We need to root out the growing levels of fraud that appear to be endemic within the system and we need do our level best to protect the system from welfare tourism and exploitation by those who are not even resident in the state,” added the TD.
“The Irish welfare system should be not funding the lifestyles on those who have no right to it.”
Payments are not suspended or stopped on the basis of the report received – rather, this happens when evidence of wrongdoing has been confirmed.
In the case of the Ukrainian national convicted last week, the court heard how she was living outside Ireland and travelling every two weeks to collect Jobseeker’s Allowance payments.
When a Department of Social Protection check was carried out, it emerged she had never lived at any of the addresses she had given to the department.
Tetiana Stakhiv was before Dublin Circuit Criminal Court pleadrf guilty to theft of €9,103 from the Department of Social Protection between October 2025 and April 2026. Having been convicted, she was jailed for six months.
Separate figures which were provided to Fine Gael TD Paula Butterly show €57million has been recouped from fraudulent welfare claimants between 2022 and 2025.
Some €14.3million was recovered in 2022, along with €13.7million in 2023, €14.65million in 2024 and €115.2million in 2025.