Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

The first thing that strikes me about the Government's approach is the complete lack of urgency. That came across in the Minister of State's opening statement. It was like an Oireachtas briefing. He told us the details of what the report says and then simply said the Government would consider it. What explains the lack of urgency of this Government and the previous Government on this matter when contrasted with the ability of the State to move very quickly on issues that it wants to address? Within weeks of the introduction of the Covid-19 pandemic unemployment payment, there were inspectors at airports checking for supposed welfare fraud. However, a series of recommendations have been made to help prevent corporate fraud and four years later, we are still at the stage of talking to the partners and seeking consent. Why is the State so slow-moving on this?