Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)

I move amendment No. 3:

In page 9, between lines 34 and 35, to insert the following:

"(2) Pending the repeal of the existing enactments, those enactments and this Act may be cited together as the Health and Safety at Work Acts 1882 to 2005.".

The purpose of this amendment is to highlight that the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 1989 repealed all the previous health and safety legislation, going back to 1882. However, the section that was passed by the Oireachtas in 1989 was never brought into operation. Consequently, the old legislation, despite the decision of the Oireachtas a considerable time ago, to repeal it, is still in force. The 1989 Act states that these Acts are repealed but in fact they have never been repealed because that section of the Act was never brought into force.

The Bill now before the House repeats this farce by listing yet again the legislation that the House made the decision to repeal in 1989. How can there be any guarantee, therefore, that this legislation will ever be repealed? Is it a case of three strikes and one is out?

This amendment is designed to highlight the undesirability of retaining the old Victorian legislation which these Houses thought they had repealed in 1989.

The Minister of State addressed the issue on Committee Stage but failed to give a clear or watertight timetable for doing the business. The Minister of State may recall some reference to manpower shortages and other difficulties that caused the delays to date. I acknowledge the Minister of State's reasoned answer to the House subsequent to Committee Stage but we need to be seen to be doing our business. If the Oireachtas decides on something, it really is not a matter for manpower or for the Executive to delay the doing of those things. I know there is generally a catch-all phrase to allow for sections of the Bill to be brought in at different times and this issue will be dealt with later in the debate. The Oireachtas should be the body that sets the law. There must be an expectation that the decisions of the Oireachtas are carried through into legislation in a reasonable period of time.

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