Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

I would never criticise a Minister or Minister of State for agreeing to an amendment or changing his mind as a Bill progresses through the House. However, in the case of this Bill, as is frequently the case with justice legislation, much of the ingenuity is inspired by the Department and the Minister. The question of why seemingly significant matters are added on Report Stage in the Seanad arises. I heard it said recently that the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform has produced as much legislation in the first year of this Parliament as the other 14 Departments together, which is a worthy track record in making it up as one goes along. Under the previous regime, we frequently had amendments longer than the original Bill. One wonders what is the cause of this and whether legislation gets adequate scrutiny before we find it enshrined in law.

The work on this legislation is of some significance for commerce. The new freedom conferred on solicitors allowing them enter into this type of contract seems significant. If it is the case that we are at a competitive disadvantage vis-À-vis other common law neighbouring jurisdictions, then it should be attended to. It is too long since I studied this law, but the Minister of State, Deputy Barry Andrews, will be able to tell me which other contents of the 1870 Act might be repealed in addition to section 7. I presume the Minister of State and the Department are satisfied that the repeal of section 7 alone is adequate. We have spent a good deal of time removing from the Statute Book legislation which is out of date and so on. The existing legislation which is relevant for commerce seems to be dramatically out of date.

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