Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

On a point of order, one which I raised on the Order of Business yesterday, Standing Order 175 of the Standing Orders Relative to Public Business, the latest consolidation as of 16 September 2022, provides that:

A Bill shall be printed only if accompanied by an Explanatory Memorandum which shall, in clear terms— (a) set out the purpose of the Bill in the context of existing law and the changes proposed in the Bill, and

(b) explain the provisions of the Bill on a section-by-section basis.

The Bill is a huge body of work and the Minister and his Department are to be commended for putting such a huge body of work before the House. It runs to some 710-odd pages.

The explanatory memorandum, on the other hand, is a more scant document. It is still, as one might expect, a fairly hefty document running to 120 pages, but it is deficient in that it fails to comply with Standing Orders.

The Standing Order states that the Bill shall not be printed. There is no discretion. There is no opt-out. Of course, it is always open to the House to vote to suspend Standing Orders but I am not aware that anybody took a vote to suspend Standing Orders in the case of this Bill.

I want to give a particular example of how it is deficient. It is a generality but I want to give an example.

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