However, one of the motives for introducing the Bill is reversing the trend because the last election was won – it was bought rather than fought – on the pretext of promises and commitments made on the doorsteps. These promises and commitments, even though they have not been honoured, have been abandoned. The Minister and his colleagues know they will get a rollicking during the local election campaign when they knock on doors. The Minister's tactic is to remove the people who made the promises and put in fresh blood. The new candidates will be able to make the age-old plea of Fianna Fáil: "We knew nothing about those promises. We had nothing to do with them".