Shane Cassells (Meath West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

On the recovery of overpayments, and write offs, a total of almost €3 million was written off in 2016, which is a substantial sum. Will Mr. McKeon deal with the analysis by the Comptroller and Auditor General in terms of the processes for recovering overpayments? There were a number of significant amounts that have not been recovered. I note that Mr. McKeon says many were in the realm of the smaller amounts but there were a significant number, 162 cases where €150,000 was written off because the Department failed to act in a reasonable time. Why was the Department not acting in a reasonable time?