Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)

This legislative pruning is necessary and will not be opposed by the Green Party. While we have the opportunity to debate the Bill, we should at least take that opportunity to examine what we are consigning to history. Among the legislation we bid adieu to once this Bill is passed is that which deals with the Magna Carta and the Habeas Corpus Act 1679. I can only presume that Irish common law has already subsumed many of these principles and now that we have a constitutional republic, we have stated rights for our citizens. The fact that this legislation will no longer be on the Irish Statute Book should at least be noted.

Many of these Bills are historical curiosities. I note the Restitution of the Earl of Kildare Bill 1495. If we ever cease to be a constitutional republic and we introduce legislation for the restitution of the Earl of Cork, I might be prepared to make a false claim to that title, even though I am not related to that particular Boyle family.

We have to wonder why much of this legislation ever referred to Ireland, such as the Union with Scotland Act 1706. I presume that we did not care then and care even less now about the precedence of Princess Sophia in 1711. This is all part of the necessary pruning process on which the Government has embarked and will receive full co-operation from the Opposition.

There are some Acts that could be re-introduced, given modern circumstances. It would be interesting to see if they form part of the legislative programme of this or subsequent Governments. The Adulteration of Coffee Act 1718 might have seemed an irrelevance in tea drinking Ireland, but given the latte and cappuccino sensibility we seem to have acquired since the coming of the Celtic tiger, there might be a renewed demand for legislation covering this important area. The Flax and Hemp Seed Act 1810 refers to Ireland. In recent centuries, hemp has got a very bad press, as it has a side effect as a narcotic. However, it is also a durable fabric and at one stage was a mainstay of Irish agriculture. It may yet in the future, given changes in the Common Agricultural Policy, be an alternative replacement product for many Irish farmers.

Has the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform been consulted regarding the Pillory Abolition Act 1816? As an adept user of verbal pillorying, he might regret that this Act is being struck off our own Statute Book. Indeed, he might be encouraged to insert a provision into the Criminal Justice Bill 2005, currently before the House, which re-introduces pillorying. I would not put it past the man.

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