David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is important to note that the vast majority of people who are in receipt of social welfare are genuine claimants. My information, which the Minister will undoubtedly correct if it is inaccurate, is that only 3.4% of total welfare expenditure is accounted for by either error or fraud, with one third of that percentage relating specifically to fraud and the remainder to errors made by social welfare offices or by claimants themselves. We are talking, in other words, about a tiny percentage of recipients. While it is vital to clamp down on fraud, because those involved are taking money not only from the State but from other people who are entitled to welfare, we must keep matters in perspective. Only a tiny cohort of total welfare claimants is guilty of fraud.