Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

To be helpful to the House, the point I am making is that, from time immemorial, the Title of the winter social welfare Bill is the "Social Welfare Bill" because it is the one that deals with the budget. It does not take in a whole range of miscellaneous titles. The Senator expanded for a time on wanting to include in that discussion of "Miscellaneous" a broader perspective in regard to his party's discussion and frequent request for what is described as an amnesty.

I am not accepting Senator Cullinane's amendment. There are two Bills a year, one relating to the budget, which is this Bill. Social welfare covers 50 to 60 major payments and categories of individuals who receive those payments. They are all covered by the Social Welfare Bill, as are the 4 million people who directly and indirectly receive some element of social welfare payments regularly through the year. I am not inclined to accept his expansion of the Title and I am told by the Parliamentary Counsel there is no particular need of it. For example, when we come to the spring-early summer Bill, the Title of that Bill in full depends on the particular contents of the Bill.

If the Bill in the summer will also provide for amendments to the 1990 Pensions Act, the Title will also be amended to include a reference to being partly related to pensions. The Title will be the social welfare miscellaneous provisions Bill. I am informed by the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel that the current Title, Social Welfare Bill 2012, is sufficient for the amendments provided for in the Bill, as passed by Dáil Éireann. The various Committee Stage amendments proposed by Senators are also covered by the current Title. In the circumstances, there is no need to include a reference to miscellaneous provisions in the Title.

The reason the issue of an amnesty arose is because it is referenced in the amendment. I was not clear what the Sinn Féin position on this was when I received the amendment.