asked the Minister for Social Welfare the amount of money lost to his Department through acts of fraud in the years 1980; 1981; 1982 and 1983.

The amounts attributed by my Department to fraud or suspected fraud are as follows:

*This figure includes a sum of £76,856 lost through internal fraud in the two years 1981 and 1982 which it has not been possible to apportion over the separate years.