Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Before I let Deputy Durkan in, I ask that he give me a couple of minutes. I know the pandemic payment is small in relation to the overall budget. It is tiny in relation to it. I just do not understand the delay in making the payment. The Minister said in a reply earlier that he expect about 300 groups to get the payment. What kind of percentage is that? Is it about half the people getting paid? When do we agree to pay out this goodwill payment? We are all hearing from different groups. The fire brigade staff were on to me about it. If they are not front line, I do not know what is, particularly in the Dublin area where Dublin Fire Brigade fulfils the role of an ambulance service and so on. Can we get a broad outline of how many people the Minister thinks will be paid by Christmas? If he does not have it now, I will get it later. What is the delay? I hear what the Minister is saying about it but it is a long time since we agreed to pay this, yet the system does not seem to be operating. The goodwill is going out of it. Many people were expecting to be paid by Christmas.