Extending €1,000 pandemic bonus 'simply not possible' – Michael McGrath

'We would all love to extend this payment to a wide range of workers and volunteers, without whom our experience of Covid would have been much worse'

Michael McGrath said that among those who will receive the bonus are public service health and ambulance workers who were working on-site in Covid-19 exposed environments. Picture: Collins 

Extending the pandemic bonus to other groups is "simply not possible" as it would cost more than €500m, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has warned.

Michael McGrath has told the Dáil that the Government has decided to prioritise frontline healthcare workers for a €1,000 one-off payment as widening it out would be very costly to the State.