Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)

I welcome this opportunity to speak on the Statute Law Revision (Pre-1922) Bill 2004. It is refreshing to deal with a Bill that provides for the repeal of 219 Acts that predate the foundation of the State. It is an opportunity to reflect on legislation and assess our work as legislators in this House.

There is much cynicism about politicians, which is egged on by sections of our media that see us all as fair game. The reality is that the vast majority of the Members of the Dáil work long, hard hours and try to do our best as legislators. Most citizens know this and it is time for sections of the media to stop degrading our work and, more seriously, misleading our people on this important political issue. It makes my blood boil when I hear announcements on "Morning Ireland" to the effect that the Deputies are back after three months holidays when the people involved know we have been in our offices and constituencies during the summer. We need fair and balanced reporting and our citizens deserve to know the truth.

I raise this issue today while we are discussing the matter of laws in the country. Journalists and members of the media should never be embedded with political parties and should always retain their integrity and independence. Sadly, this is not the case in Ireland and all democrats in this House should be brave and stand up for openness and honest reporting. I address these comments to many of the political correspondents around the House as we need openness, honesty and integrity in journalism.

While I speak on this issue, I will mention the sad and tragic case of Mr. Rory Carroll, who was kidnapped in Iraq in the past 24 hours. On behalf of the Independent group, I wish to express my support for and solidarity with his family and I ask that the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the personnel involved in the case do their best to ensure he is safely returned home to his family and friends. We can never allow a situation where someone reporting on a conflict is sucked into it and treated as part of the problem to continue. In the interests of human rights and an Irish citizen, I urge all people directly involved in the case to work very hard to seek his release.

This Bill provides for the repeal of 219 Acts that predate the foundation of the State, statutes enacted before 6 December 1922 that are no longer in force. The Bill deals only with the primary legislation from the years prior to our independence and its primary concern is the laws passed by a number of parliaments that had authority over Ireland for a period of eight centuries. When examining this aspect of the debate, we should reflect on and never forget that situation, nor should we forget the people who are in a similar situation in Northern Ireland. This island experienced significant oppression and injustice for a long time but many people in this House seem to want to bury their heads in the sand when trying to resolve the Northern Ireland conflict.

It may not be fashionable or politically correct but I will voice my support for Fr. Alec Reid due to his magnificent work in developing the peace process over recent years and reject the recent attacks on him. Regardless of his comments, he is a man of integrity, ability and peace. All sides directly involved in the peace process should recognise this and should not hang him out to dry after recent comments. The debate in the hall that night was fiery. We, like others, can lose our cool in such debates and situations. We should not be lectured by people who have records of sectarianism, namely, Mr. Ian Paisley Jnr. and Mr. Jeffrey Donaldson, who should look inside their own hearts. All sides of the conflict have performed disastrous and terrible acts and this recognition is the direction in which we should go if we are to discuss the peace process.

I mention this issue in today's debate because plans are being developed by the Office of the Attorney General to ensure that secondary legislation is also dealt with in due course. The general body of legislation enacted by the Parliament of the former United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was continued in force by Article 73 of the Constitution of Saorstát Éireann and Article 50 of the Constitution of Ireland. Pre-1922 legislation is still effective in Ireland and, therefore, spans as far back as 1200, which I did not realise until I began researching the matter.

The statutes covered by this Bill fall into a number of categories. There are Irish statutes passed before the union with Britain, which were laws passed by various parliaments sitting in Ireland between 1200 and 1800. These make for interesting reading and offer an opportunity to reflect on our history. This is an opportunity to stand up as an independent nation on the international stage, align ourselves with other former colonies around the world that have histories like ours and work for international peace and justice. There are English statutes passed before 1495, most of which were applied to Ireland by virtue of Poyning's Law in 1494, and English statutes passed between 1495 and 1707 that were also applied to Ireland.

This is an opportunity to challenge revisionists in this country, be they in academia, the media or this House, because we have a history of colonialism and being oppressed. We should not be ashamed to say this was the reality, even as it is the reality for many people living in Northern Ireland at present. We should not be afraid to stand up and defend the interests of the northern minority in particular. I was saddened in recent weeks when, after horrific sectarian attacks, the voices of most of the parties in this House were silent.

The fourth category of the Bill covers statutes that were passed by Westminster Parliament after the union of England and Scotland in 1707 but before the union of Britain and Ireland in 1800 and, finally, it covers Acts of the former United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland that applied to Ireland and were passed after the Act of Union 1800 but before the establishment of Saorstát Éireann in 1922.

The Bill, which I will support, is intended to help streamline the Statute Book and forms part of the Government's overall commitment to better regulation and regulatory reform. Everyone in the House will support that commitment. Repealing outdated legislation ensures the Statute Book is kept up to date and provides for increased clarity and accessibility of primary legislation. This approach is in keeping with good practice on management of the regulatory framework.

I recently attended a celebration in Collins Barracks for soldiers who served with the United Nations. I wish to raise the case of Mr. Thomas Kenny and Mr. Joseph Fitzpatrick, the two Irish soldiers who survived the notorious Niemba massacre in the Congo in November 1960. Their case is important to citizens of this State and their commitment to international peace. I call on the Minister of State and the Government to give these men appropriate recognition. They were approximately 17 or 18 years of age at the time and ill-equipped to deal with a difficult conflict. Their role was not military, but peacekeeping. Out of the 11 members on patrol that day, only those two men survived the ambush, but they have horrific memories. It is important that people who served with the United Nations should be honoured and given appropriate recognition. I ask the Minister for Defence, Deputy O'Dea, to open his heart and act on behalf of Mr. Kenny and Mr. Fitzpatrick.

We need fair and just laws. It is important that laws have the respect of the people but these laws in turn must respect human rights. When we examine the history of legislation it is important that we reflect on the ethos of Wolfe Tone and his philosophy of Catholic, Protestant and Dissenter. We should acknowledge and reflect on his great work and vision. I was interested to hear the Minister of State, Deputy Kitt, pointing out to the House the difference between law reform and law revision, and I agree with him:

Law reform is concerned with the substantive nature of the law — it changes the effective rights and duties which apply in our society. Law revision does not change the substantive law — it merely sweeps away those laws which no longer have any substantive effect. It is the process of removing legislation that has lost any modern purpose from the Statute Book.

I welcome this debate as an opportunity to discuss our laws, defend most legislators who do a day's work for a day's pay and silence many of the cynics who speak against the legislators in this House who do a great deal of difficult work.

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