Mr. Pat Lordan:

This is the case worldwide in the context of the amount of fraud reported vis-à-visthe amount committed. There is a dramatic gap regarding what is reported to the Garda or any other police force throughout the world. In the statistics worldwide, fraud is one of the most under-reported crimes. This is primarily because the level of fraud has increased dramatically. Even in Ireland, the figures for the first three months of this year show an increase of 28% in the amount of fraud reported.