As the House will be aware, on 26 October last, I announced that the Christmas bonus for 2003 will again be paid at a rate equivalent to 100% of the person's normal weekly payment, subject to a minimum payment of €30. The estimated cost of this measure is €115.63 million, comprising €110 million for recipients of social welfare payments and an additional €5.6 million for certain participants in FÁS, VTOS, jobs initiative and community employment schemes. Payment of the bonus will be made during the first week in December and it is estimated that it will benefit some 1.23 million persons comprising approximately 805,000 recipients and an estimated 421,000 dependents.
The bonus will be paid, as in previous years, to recipients of all long-term social welfare payments and the projected number of recipients in each scheme category is as follows: