As a result itâs hard to see that its been resisted because it is viewed as a small one-off discretionary spend. As has been pointed out here - already various politicians and lobby groups (unions etc) are saying it shouldnât just be for Covid, it shouldnât be just for nurses, it should be more than suggested etc etc. That may be something that should be considered but the proponents of it should at least be upfront and acknowledge thatâs what theyâre arguing for.
Iâd actually say most politicians would happily pay this off to avoid the political heat associated with it so Iâd imagine a lot of the pushback is coming from within Dept of Pub Expenditure and/or Dep of Health looking at knock-on effects.