In just over three months, the Minister for Finance will arrange for the payment of the next instalment of the benchmarking award. The instalment was initially estimated to cost approximately €500 million, but figures obtained by way of parliamentary question by the Fine Gael Party leader, Deputy Kenny, indicate that it will cost considerably more, approximately €650 million. Huge as this payment will be, it forms only a small part of the overall package. The full cost of benchmarking will be a massive €1.2 billion each year because it is a recurring cost.