Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am not but I chaired the Joint Committee on Finance and the Public Service when Charlie McCreevy was Minister and Deputy Noonan - another former Minister - was the main Opposition spokesperson. At that time, the bounty was £100. At the turn of the millennium, Deputy Noonan suggested that, because it was the year 2000, the bounty should be increased from £100 to £2,000. The then Minister accepted the proposal. It went through in the Finance Act and the amount has since been converted to euros. That is from where the figure came.