John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Comptroller and Auditor General and Deputy Kieran O'Donnell referred to the issue of there possibly being a large misappropriation. I am trying to figure out its scale and the number of individuals who might have participated in it. We are no stranger to fraud and potential fraud at this committee, even when it comes to Irish Aid money going astray in places like Uganda. However, I have never come across anything of the scale involved in the social welfare area. Notwithstanding the fact that an investigation is ongoing and that Ms O'Donoghue is limited in what she can say, can she give us any idea of the potential number of participants in this scheme?