'We will find people': Minister says benefit fraud down by £60m

The Communities Minister Gordon Lyons has said that £60m has been saved in the past year from benefit fraud.

Last February, Lyons said that those convicted of benefit fraud would be publicly identified as part of a "zero-tolerance approach".

He said that as result of the work that has been done, convictions, compliance interviews and referrals have all gone up.

"The general public are fed up," he said, "they're fed up that this is happening."

On Wednesday, Lyons said that convictions for benefit fraud had gone up from 47 convictions to 60 convictions.

"It's not just about taking people through and convicting them, it's stopping it happen in the first place," he told the Nolan Show.

"There is no hiding place, it is just a matter of time, we will find people and we will deal with them appropriately."

He added that annual results show that last year benefit fraud dropped to £170.9m, compared to £233m in 2024.

This represents an estimated 1.7% of total benefit expenditure, compared to 2.5% in 2024.

Lyons said the Treasury had agreed to the principle of allowing Stormont to keep a percentage of money recovered if it steps up its anti-fraud measures.

He had proposed that Westminster would let them keep 50% of what they saved, but Lyons claims Sinn Féin blocked this process.

"We might have more credibility on these issues if we were able to say 'there's something that we're pushing together collectively as an executive'," he said.

He felt that benefit fraud hadn't been a priority for the other parties.

"We're talking about fraudsters, we're talking about criminals, why can we not get tough on them?"

In an earlier statement, Lyons said that he would make no apology for taking a zero-tolerance approach to benefit fraud, adding that "this is not a victimless crime".