Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach is correct. There is never, within the budgetary process, a provision for the Christmas bonus. It has always been, from its inception, paid by way of Supplementary Estimate. That was the way it was paid for last year and that is the way it has been paid for since we restored it. We brought in a Supplementary Estimate, the Taoiseach will recall, and negotiated for €197 million last year. Since then, the Social Insurance Fund has been in surplus. It would be a decent thing to do to signal to people that the Christmas bonus will be provided in order not to have anybody anxious about it now. My concern is that while the Minister for Social Protection has rightly said that a full restoration is a desirable objective that he will pursue, the Minister for Public Expenditure told the budget scrutiny committee last week that there will be no further Supplementary Estimates.

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