A total of 592 cases of benefit abuse were found this year between January and August, Minister Michael Farrugia said today.

The department of investigation into benefit fraud conducted a total of 1,240 on-site inspections, 386 of which were found not to have broken any laws.

The amount saved for a single year, the Minister said, was €2,368,000.

He said government will be meeting with those who committed fraud in order to find an agreement on a repayment scheme.

He also mentioned the statistics regarding those who came forward to regularise their position, which he said was a one off scheme and saw 236 people do so. This saved around €623,700, he said.

Social Solidarity Minister Michael Farrugia was presenting the results of the work done by his Ministry since the last budget.

He said that statistics show that the amount of people at risk of poverty who enter work have a much higher chance of moving away from the poverty line.

As for those on unemployment benefits and special unemployment benefits, these are divided into two sectors. Those who used to pay contributions and ended up unemployed, and those who are means-tested.

Those who contributed stood at 813 persons last January, and as of August, the number dropped by 351 persons to 462 persons. As a results, €200,611 was saved on benefits.

As for those who were means tested, the number dropped from 3791 in December 2014 to 2,662 in September 2015. This is a reduction of 1,129 people on non-contributory benefits.

Turning to social security contributions through a scheme where government allowed those who had worked, become unemployed and then became employed again, to pay up to five years of missed National Insurance in order for them to be eligible for a better pension. This scheme saw 469 people accepted. Around €2.1 million in payments were made.

Those on Social Assistance reduced by 1,001 people between December 2014 to September 2015. In 2014 the number of people was 9,639 and in September 2015 was 8,638.

As for the tapering of benefits, the Minister explained that government has seen an increase of 1,006 beneficiaries utilising this tapering of benefits while at work, bringing the total number of people up to 1,503 as of September 2015.

On in-work benefits, he said that 508 couples had applied, resulting in €200,016 given, 733 single parents had applied, resulting in €210,602 paid and 640 applications were denied as the persons did not qualify. "These are the first results for those who made use of the in-work benefit".