Over 20% of those receiving jobseekers' allowance over the past two years were paid more than they were entitled to, new data shows.
A new report from the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG), the State's spending watchdog, outlines a number of social welfare payment issues.
A control survey examined 757 jobseekers' allowance payments in 2023 and 2024.
Of the claimants being overpaid, the average overpayment was 7%.
While this is down on the 8% recorded in the previous survey, the report states that it is "still high".
The survey found that 4.1% of claimants surveyed were being underpaid.
The report also examined the non-contributory State pension scheme.
800 claimants from 2023 and 2024 were examined, with 26% of these being overpaid by an average of 6.2%.
Meanwhile, 6.3% of claimants surveyed were being underpaid.
"The main risk identified by the Department was that overpayments are more likely to occur in cases where claimants are also in receipt of foreign/private pensions," the report states.
Where an excess payment is identified by the Department, the C&AG report states that a deciding officer will determine on a case-by-case basis, in accordance with legislation and the relevant operational guidelines, how this is to be treated.
However, investigations found that overpayments had only been raised in 38 out of 365 excess payment cases identified.
"A perceived low likelihood of having an overpayment debt raised when an excess entitlement situation is detected may mean that some claimants may feel there is little risk associated with not keeping the Department informed, in a timely manner, of a change in circumstance relevant to their claims," the C&AG report states.
With the total social welfare scheme expenditure reaching €26.2 billion in 2024, the C&AG report warns that even low levels of overpayments can amount to "significant losses of public funds".
