Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

In view of the unfortunate absence of the Minister, we will be unable to discuss with him his U-turn whereby he is now proposing to exclude people such as home helps from the Bill. I am grateful for that small concession to the Labour Party. He said that the Central Bank was to be included in the remit of the Bill, but we have no amendment to that effect. In addition, there is no clarification of the situation with regard to the proposed reductions for Ministers and Ministers of State. Is it a reduction of their ministerial or their Deputies' salaries, or a combination of both? Does the Deputy rate apply to their Deputies' salaries and the other rate to their ministerial salaries?

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