Mr. Noel Waters:

To be clear about that, the Comptroller and Auditor General has helpfully pointed out that does not include the pensionability of the allowance, which would take another €3 million off it. If one compares on a direct basis with what was paid out in overtime, one is looking at savings of the order of €8.5 million. The actual payment every year on annualised hours in more recent years has been of the order of €32 million.

The equivalent overtime payment in a direct comparison basis in the most recent year it was used was €46 million, but other elements to this have happened in the meantime.