Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Let us look at the €2 billion envelope. This is just for budgetary oversight and to try to get an understanding of policy and what the numbers mean. The €2 billion number refers to the expenditure measures to be allocated. Must the public sector pay deal, when it is negotiated and struck, come out of that €2 billion? I assume it does and the Minister has confirmed that. Will he indicate how that is treated given that we do not have a pay deal? Last time, we did have a pay deal so the Minister was able to be upfront and clear about it. How will that be treated in the budget book in two weeks' time?