Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I mentioned the RSM Robson Rhodes report last week when I was chatting to the Tánaiste. Back in 2007, that report estimated that we were losing €2.5 billion per year from economic crime.

That equates to a potential loss to the economy of €35 billion over the past 14 years. Why has the State been so slow to tackle this aspect of economic crime, given the potentially severe losses, compared with other areas we have been particularly keen to address, such as through the campaigns against so-called welfare cheats? There seems to have been a significant gap over the past 14 years in tackling this massive sector of economic crime.