Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The social partnership deal was signed up to by almost everybody in the country in both the public and private sectors. Everybody was involved, including farmers, IBEC and the social pillars. A deal on pay was specifically not allowed at the time. Therefore, one way of ensuring there would be no knock-on effect was to call it an allowance. The country signed up to the process of calling them allowances.