Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

It is interesting that it has taken so long for us to get to this stage. I would have presumed this would have been one of the first items on the agenda either in 1922 or 1948, to repeal British or English Acts and to replace them with parliamentary legislation agreed by the representatives of this State. Great work is finally being done in this attempt to repeal a number of statutes which have been used or abused over the years because they remained in existence.

As the Bill progresses, we need an explanation and a timetable in regard to the 1,348 Acts which will remain. Like other Deputies, I find it strange that some statutes will remain on the Statute Book. We need an explanation as to why that is the case, a timetable for when we will replace them and proposals for legislation to overwrite and update some of these statutes.

It is interesting to go through the list of legislation, some of it dating back several hundreds of years, and to read the subject matter relating to various Acts. It is probably more interesting again to go through each individual Act. I expect those involved in drafting the legislation had great fun. While we can be frivolous about some of the legislation we propose to repeal or remove from the Statute Book, I question the merit of some of the legislation that remains in place. I hope this work will continue in future years beyond the Statute Law Revision Bill.

One of the remaining anomalous Acts relates to the erection of castles and fortifications in Dublin or the establishment of fairs in Donnybrook — it is a long time since there was a fair in Donnybrook, whatever about Waterford city or Limerick city. The Act is to be renamed from the Fairs Act 1204. A number of Acts are being retained which relate to fairs and markets. It would be a major job in itself to amalgamate all such legislation into a single Act which would give standard rulings on fairs and markets around Ireland and would also continue the privileges which have been granted at various stages down through the years that have become common practice since. It would be a considerable undertaking to deal with grants of licences etc.

Another anomaly is the Taking of Pledges Act. The taking of pledges contrary to the common law was considered a felony. That law dates to 1475 and at this stage, democracy has overtaken this requirement, bar in the Six Counties where people are still being asked to make pledges to the Queen and the like.

The Bog of Allen Act 1478 related to freedom to draw turf from the bog. I thought environmental concerns and subsequent legislation to give licences to Bord na Móna and local people to cut turf would have invalidated this Act. The Marriage (No. 2) Act 1537 remains in place. Likewise, I presumed laws enacted since the foundation of the State would have superseded this. I would be interested to hear the reason it remains on the Statute Book.

I question the need to retain legislation relating to sheriffs, the sale of horses etc. While sheriffs are still part of society, we need to update and modernise the Sheriffs Acts of 1634 and 1707. Reference was made to hospitals that no longer exist. For example, the Meath Hospital no longer exists as a separate entity. Time has made other legislation redundant such as that referring to Dublin improvement, the Rotunda Hospital etc. They related to a specific moment in time and no longer require to be on the Statute Book.

The Registry of Ships is among the Acts retained and I wonder why it has not been repealed. There is probably a reason but we should overwrite these Acts. The Erne Navigation Act is another that I would have presumed had been overwritten, given the navigation channels built in the canal in recent years.

I must examine some Acts that may have implications for my constituency, such as the Poddle River Act 1795. This river runs through my constituency. Every Deputy should examine the implications for his or her constituency. Many statutes date from the Anglo-Norman invasion and the Middle Ages. For the most part, Ireland was Gaelic Ireland and Brehon laws still applied. We have never considered the positive aspects of Brehon law. It would be interesting to see if we have repealed these laws or codified them to the extent that we could examine them when reviewing statutes.

The old Gaelic system had a more progressive attitude to land and property, which was held in trust for the people in the interests of the common good. An aggressive form of private land ownership was introduced by others under the feudal system. Acts that are retained may have an impact in the future. Recently, the royal charter for the city of Derry was used in the courts in the North to thwart the democratic right of the people of the city to use Derry as the official name rather than Londonderry. Retained statutes have effects and implications, which will be examined on Committee Stage. Goodbye to the others, many of which may have served a purpose at one time but are long since redundant.

See this speech in context