David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Absolutely. I commend the Minister of State for his commitment to the regeneration of the country, despite sectoral party interests. I believe that is genuine and I salute the Minister of State and the Labour Party for it. I believe they are going into the wilderness but they are doing so in what they see as a good cause.
The Christmas bonus is very welcome but it is only 25% of what was there before and is therefore a small amount. It is a case for one hurrah rather than three cheers.
I would like to ask the Minister of State about the explanatory and financial memorandum as a matter of information. It states on pages 1 and 2:

The following other social protection measures which were announced in Budget 2015 relate to non-statutory schemes and do not require any legislative amendments-(a) The new Water Subsidy worth €100 per annum for all recipients of the Household Benefits Package and for all recipients of the fuel allowance who do not already receive the Household Benefits Package,
(b) the doubling of the number of employees supported by JobsPlus from 3,000 to 6,000,
(c) additional funding of €12 million in 2015 for the introduction of new employment services (JobPath), and
(d) additional annual funding of €2 million for the School Meals Programme.

That is telling us what the Bill does not address. I do not see the point in that unless it is a kind of political advertisement: "We gave this" and "We did that". One might as well say this Bill does not address climate change. It does not because it is not about climate change.

I do not think I have ever seen in an explanatory memorandum before a recital of things that the Bill does not do. Is there an explanation for that?