Dan Neville (Limerick West, Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 1:

In page 7, line 23, to delete "shall come" and substitute "comes".

This amendment proposes to use the active voice. The greater use of the active voice has been recommended by the Law Reform Commission in its report on legislative drafting. In quite a few Bills I have seen serious inconsistencies in the drafting style and quality. The commencement provisions of many Acts state "comes into operation" but this Bill persists in using the old style. My colleagues have had this amendment accepted on Committee Stage of other Bills on a number of occasions and I urge the Minister to accept the amendment and ask her to give an assurance that the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel will become more consistent.

There should be greater use of the active instead of the passive voice. There are occasions when it is more appropriate to use the passive voice to emphasise an act rather than its agent but, on the whole, present drafting styles make far too much use of the passive voice, often obscuring the central message of a section. The drafting manual specifically mentions that the active voice is preferable to the passive and I urge the Minister to use it here. It is not a big deal but it will ensure consistency with her colleagues.

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