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Another cunning stunt.

Minister for Social Protection Leo Varadkar flagged the measure in an interview with The Sunday Business Post last January.

This will end well.

Leo Varadkar sets out plans for future (Hugh O’Connell, The Sunday Business Post, January 2017)

Previously: Populist Chancer Cheats Us All

Pic: Hugh O’Connell

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81 thoughts on “Shameful

    1. bleeschmn

      Because they’d rather we look at people fiddling the dole than the people who are costing the country fifty times as much, such as failed developers and banks who we’re subsidising and the vulture funds NAMA sold our soul to for a pack of magic beans.

      1. Fergus the magic postman

        Yup. Another classless act from Ireland’s classist party.

        Not to say welfare fraud isn’t wrong, but this is like sending your entire fleet of cherry pickers to pick blackberries, when the country needs pears and peaches.

      1. m.e.

        That was the only other crime I was aware of people being named in this way. I don’t understand why it’s only for select crimes.

        1. Harry Molloy

          Criminal trials are held in court and so are in public and can be reported upon, except for the minority in camera.

          but point taken, that there aren’t many crimes listed like this.

  1. dav

    Varadkar’s war against the poor continues… it must be a very popular tactic with the membership..

    1. Zeno

      I think you’ll find very few poor people are convicted fraudsters. You seem to have a very low opinion of people with less means.

      1. dav

        But we all know that even those accused of “welfare Fraud” will have their benefits cut, which is what this is really all about. Not actual convictions just excuses to cut benefits for those that need them the most. Judging by your rush to defend dear leo, I take it it’s very popular with the membership?

        1. Vote Rep #1

          Any actual real examples of people getting their benefit cut just for being accused?

          1. dav

            Your master’s department wouldn’t provide me with those figures, I suppose they don’t want to be seen in a poor light…

          2. Vote Rep #1

            Christ you are pathetic. Sprout rubbish and when get asked for actual examples of your accusations, start attacking the questioner. Typical tabloid behaviour. Keep standing up for the poor by calling them fraudsters.

          3. dav

            they won’t be convicted, they’ll just be accused, which will suit the department’s purposes…

          4. classter

            Lots of documented examples in the UK over the last few years.

            I guess, dav, rightly or wrongly, fears this practice migrating over.

          5. Vote Rep #1

            I asked for examples of benefits being docked. Rather then say you don’t have any examples or that, as classter, you don’t have any examples but fear something coming from across the water, you went all daily mail and went on the attack. Utterly pathetic but completely typical. Very FG in fact. Accept what I saw or you will get slandered.

          6. dav

            it has you fairly exercised so my apologies about that, but you should take it up with leo and his attack on those in need of benefits…

        2. Zeno

          Judging by your rush to label people I take it it’s very unpopular with the mothership.

      1. dav

        Again, it’s not about catching fraudsters, it’s about giving dubious cover to cut off benefits

        1. Andrew

          If Leo Varadkar announced he was going to implement significant welfare reform, he would get widespread support. he’s actually stopping well short of that.

          1. dav

            If he announced he would get our money back from the cheating bankers, vulture funds and corporate tax evaders he’d be a worth leader..

  2. newsjustin

    This is good. If you can be published for stealing a few grand from the tax man (which is right), you should be published for this.

        1. know man is an island

          Lord Snowflakee has a point. This man was the toast of broadsheet’s equality cliterati here not many moons ago.

  3. Frilly Keane

    What about naming and shaming the County Councils and listing their Sub Prime rate mortgages

    Ye think Vultures are bad

    The worst Creditor to have is a County Council

  4. paul

    they do something similar to this in some parts of China. Mugshots of criminals and the details of their crimes posted publicly. Shades of the medieval stocks, humiliate people to discourage reoffending.

    the only difference being that the Chinese mugshots typically have the text ‘executed’ under their names on the posters.

  5. Andrew

    Varadkar knows there is a huge constituency out there who are working and are fed up with paying for everything while others are welfare dependent and milk the system.
    Where he is wrong though is just focusing on welfare fraud. He SHOULD be focusing on welfare reform. We have far too many people claiming welfare when there are jobs to be had. Also the disability allowance scam is a sick joke at this stage.
    welfare needs to be trated as a temporary help not a permanent situation with generational dependency. it serves nobody, including the recipients. It infantilises people and doesn’t work.

        1. Garmin Fish

          There is a direct correlation between the number of people on hospital waiting lists and those claiming disability benefit. If you do your back in and can’t see a consultant for 18 months, then you’ll be claiming disability while you wait and probably develop an opiate addiction to boot. The shorter the waiting lists, the less disability money that will be claimed. It’s not rocket science.

  6. Owen

    Id prefer if more time was spend actually preventing welfare fraud, through tightening monitoring to prevent claiming illegally, or within loopholes. This seems a bit pointless to me.

    1. b

      do you think catching more fraudsters and publishing their names doesn’t help prevent fraud?

      1. Owen

        Nobody said anything about ‘catching more’. This is publishing the names of those who are prosecuted in the courts, which is already publicly available. Pointless busy work compiling it. A waste of resources.

  7. bisted

    …good man Leo…I’d say there’ll be a good few FG/FFer bums squeaking at the prospect of tit-for-tat name naming in the chamber…

  8. Vote Rep #1

    Is this going to be all people done from welfare fraud no matter the amount? Seems pretty drastic. I’d agree with it for fraud over a certain decent amount rather then someone getting an extra 30 quid a month.

      1. Vote Rep #1

        Indeed, especially since anyone caught from large amounts of fraud are all over the likes of the herald where more people are going to see it as opposed to a government bloody website, it really seem utterly pointless and nothing more looking like he is doing something and being tough.

  9. Rob_G

    The names of people who are convicted of welfare fraud are already reported in the press through the court proceedings; not sure if this will is a radical departure. Though I suppose the details of people who cheat on their taxes are published in Stubbs’ Gazette, so what’s good for the goose…

  10. Listrade

    Might be one for LCD, not sure how publishing of this information will sit with the upcoming GDPR regulations (or even the existing for that matter).

    If they’re published, then they’ll be searchable through Google, I wonder what cost will be attached to having a whole unit of people paid to process right to be forgotten requests.

    Nothing helps someone get off welfare like having a criminal conviction easily searched on google. Especially when someone else could have more serious convictions but only discoverable through them consenting to Garda screening.

  11. martco

    I actually hate this scheming boo boo

    (and that’s something I wouldn’t even be able to say about his boss)

      1. martco

        on a personal level because of his insatiable need to self-promote…I find him an utter smartarse, I also happen have 1st hand experience (very revealing too) of how he treats those working for him.
        on an ethical level pulling stunts like this one to distract from his own failings (I’m struggling to recall ONE useful thing this fella has ever done to date apart from playing childish games in the media)
        and let’s face it I find his brand of political ideology repulsive

      2. martco

        can u answer my earlier question above, I’m 100% genuinely interested to know

      3. martco

        jesus…seriously? have you nothing more? sure that’s just an opinion piece, thought I’d missed something major. all seems like very similar noise to the Tory PIP affair/George Freeman bs in the UK…

        “The head of Theresa May’s policy unit has been criticised for suggesting welfare spending should prioritise “really disabled people” rather than those with mental health problems, prompting Labour to redouble efforts to reverse controversial changes to disability benefit in next month’s budget..” etc

        I that where you would like to see Ireland heading?

        I’m actually waiting for this as Leo’s next media play but one week at a time, eh?

  12. TheQ47

    To convict someone, according to Mirriam-Webster dictionary means:
    the act or process of finding a person guilty of a crime especially in a court of law
    (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conviction)

    So, someone convicted of welfare fraud is already named in the papers; they’ve been through a court case, found guilty, etc. I don’t see how this is anything radical at all. Anyway, there are so few cases that get this far, it’d be a very short list.

    1. Listrade

      Is every criminal conviction published in the papers? Is every conviction published openly in the public domain?

      1. Rob_G

        Apart from family law cases, cases involving juveniles, and instances where they wish to protect the identity of the victims (cases involving rape/sexual abuse) – yes.

        1. m.e.

          If that’s the case then this is pretty much a non-issue. That would be rather helpful to have included in the post itself.

  13. Topsy

    Can we have the names of the elites and politicians who held Ansbacher accounts made public then Leo. No of course not. You turd.

      1. Rob_G

        The mere fact that this is public knowledge detracts completely from Topsy’s point, no?

        1. Kieran Nice Young Chap

          It doesn’t matter.

          Today we’re supposed to hate Leo. Tomorrow it’ll be Simon. Thursday it’ll be someone else.

          1. Harry Molloy

            I first read that as “we date you every day Kieran”

            we should be so lucky!

  14. Barry the Hatchet

    Government Department to publish publicly available information. Innovative stuff, Leo. You’re really earning that pay packet.

    1. Steph Pinker

      I don’t like saying this as I’m not a cynical person, but IMO, it’s all about optics with Leo; he hardly made a dent in his previous portfolios as a minister – particularly as Minister for Health – and now he’s an apparent contender as FG Party Leader, consequently, he has a lot to prove; if he blows smoke rings by attracting attention to a pre-existing issue [which will eventually dissipate] the public perception of him might change.

  15. Sheik Yahbouti

    Varadkar, really is the dregs, not that his “FG Royalty’ rival is any better. To borrow a phrase from the First World War, we appear to be Lions led by Donkeys.

  16. Ron

    it seems the spirit of the Caste system is well and truly alive within him. I would imagine his moral compass doesn’t move at all when dealing with these type of issues.

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