The total number of people successfully prosecuted for benefit fraud in Northern Ireland over the past five years has been revealed at Stormont.
Communities Minister Gordon Lyons outlined the number of successful prosecutions in each of the past four financial years, dating back to 2021, along with the number in the current year.
The fraud associated with each of the prosecutions amounts to more than £4.5million, the Minister said. He was asked for the figures by the TUV MLA Timothy Gaston.
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Mr Lyons said: "In line with data retention policies data is only held for the current year plus the previous four financial years."
In the 2020-21 financial year, there were 75 prosecutions. In 2021-22 the figure was 98, and in 2022-23 it was 51, followed by 40 in 2023-24. In the current financial year, up to the end of November, there have been 30 successful prosecutions so far.
The Minister was also asked by the TUV man to "detail the total quantum of benefit fraud associated with successful prosecutions in each year since the relevant records began".
The figures provided by the Minister, and published on the Northern Ireland Assembly website, show that the successful prosecutions in 2020-21 amounted to benefit fraud worth £967,376.
The following year, in 2021-22, the figure was £1,373,309 and in 2022-23 it was £677,829. Last year's total, in 2023-24, was £767,252 and in the current financial year up to November 30 it was £717,245.
The total benefit fraud associated with the 264 successful prosecutions across the last five years was £4,503,011.
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