asked the Minister for Social Welfare the reason a person (details supplied) in County Cork was issued with two different PRSI numbers; and the reason her request to have the matter investigated has gone unheeded for the past eight weeks.

The person concerned was not issued with two different PRSI numbers. The records of the Department show that PRSI number 3416991 O is the correct number of the person referred to by the Deputy in the question. The second PRSI number, 5515861 T, quoted by the Deputy in the details supplied by him with the question, was recently issued to the mother of the person concerned in connection with a claim for optical benefit.

There is no record of a request to have this matter investigated having been received in the Department.

We are having some difficulty in hearing the Minister on this side of the House and I wonder if it has something to do with the microphone system.