Mr. Barry O'Brien:

All of this developed through clear custom and practice. Anyone who has adjudicated on rates in the health sector, namely the Labour Court, has dealt with the rate of pay and not the rate of an allowance. That is all I am saying.

All of us in the health sector are familiar with what an allowance means in the sector. That is important, because when one structures a business and staffing levels one builds in the premium cost rate that one knows one is going to incur.