Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses. I found the report at the end of 2015 very interesting. Social Justice Ireland has pointed out that, in 2014, in the absence of social welfare benefits half of the Irish population would have been living in poverty so the Department has a very onerous task on its hands in respect of equality. I agree with my colleague that the Department has a huge budget, at more than €19 billion, and mistakes will obviously occur.

I will come back to those mistakes because they were not mentioned in the opening statement. However, fraud is mentioned. Recently, the Connacht Tribunepublished a headline "War on Social Welfare" in Galway. The story stated there was a crackdown on fraudsters with Revenue and social welfare officials and gardaí out on the streets of Galway. The Department's policy document and Ms O'Donoghue's opening contribution state that the vast majority of recipients are not cheaters. Is that correct?