Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

I have listened to the debate on control savings, but will the Minister answer two short questions? Does she agree that the figure for fraud is €25 million, approximately 0.1% of the entire budget? Is it correct to state that the figure of €645 million, the latest figure devised by the Minister and her Department, was arrived at through the bizarre logic of assuming a situation in which no controls or inspections were initially in place? As the economist Mr. Michael Taft stated, this is like the Garda estimating the number of murders that might take place were there no police force. The overpayment element of control measures equated to €80 million and fraud accounted for €25 million. It is a long way from the €650 million cited by the Minister.

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