Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)

May I reiterate some of the points made by Deputy Cowen? It is misleading because people were under the impression that there was welfare fraud amounting to €600 million. It was disingenuous for some people to suggest that this was the case. There is no doubt that there is welfare fraud but by all accounts it is nothing remotely close to the figure we are talking about. The Minister has probably seen the TASC report by Mr. Michael Taft in which he stated:

It suits a certain agenda which wants to soften up public opinion for social welfare cuts to claim that hundreds of millions have been lost to fraud and cheats. We have had television investigations, newspaper headlines, and attention-seeking politicians all claiming massive fraud. But out of a budget of nearly €20 billion, the Department of Social [welfare] has found only €25 million in fraudulent payments - or about 0.1% of the entire budget.

The figure of €600 million is therefore a bit misleading. Last year, some serious research was undertaken by an independent group in Britain. With a population of 60 million there, welfare fraud was estimated at £1.5 billion. The same research estimated that tax evasion and tax unpaid by tax exiles amounted to £80 billion. Our Government should examine the same scenario.

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