Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. Her Department will spend €1,000 every second this year, a phenomenal sum. On behalf of all the members of the committee, and the Members of the Oireachtas, I echo her sentiments in respect of the Department staff and the tremendous work they do.

All of us deal with them daily and all of us honestly believe that if every other Department could engage with Members of the Oireachtas in a similar manner, Government as a whole would operate far more efficiently. While it has been a very challenging year, even with the restrictions and so forth arising from Covid-19, the Department has been very responsive again. It typifies the respect they show Members of the Oireachtas and that avenue of communication, which is so useful in resolving many anomalies.

I invite members to raise issues with the Minister in respect of the Estimate on a programme-by-programme basis. We will go through the seven points of the Revised Estimate. I will ask for questions on each of those seven points and then invite the Minister to answer.

I remind members that we are conducting a detailed examination of the pandemic unemployment payment and its interaction with the temporary wage subsidy scheme and the employment wage subsidy scheme and that we will have officials from the Department with us within the next ten days specifically on that. I ask members, therefore, to be conscious of that in their engagement with the Minister.

No. 1 concerns the €388.8 million for the Christmas bonus, including €93 million for pandemic unemployment payment recipients. Are there any questions on that specific element?