Derek Keating (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I promise you that on this occasion I will not take up 30 minutes. This Bill comes as a result of a number of years of painstaking work. I am keen to take the opportunity to commend the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform on the extensive and far-reaching body of research into statutes and proclamations that remain in effect and are required to be revoked. These instruments cover hundreds of years of our history and a broad range of subject matter. Even the most cursory reading of the Bill reflects our past in all its richness and in its darkest times. It reflects a time when there was a monarch, a parliament that voted itself out of existence, a Europe in turmoil, a country in turmoil and armies raised to fight foreign wars on behalf of a foreign king. There were rewards on the heads of criminals and patriots alike. There were offers of pardon to encourage informers to come forward as a means of imposing given views of justice on Ireland. All of the history of the English monarchy as it affected Ireland is contained within the Bill. It is reflected in statutes, proclamations and treaties, in wars and instruments to celebrate accessions, births, deaths and marriages of monarchs as well as to mourn their passing. I do not believe there is anyone in Ireland who at this point in our history mourns the passing of foreign monarchy. There was a parliament that represented an elite class who, through the Penal Laws, made the biggest land grab in our history.

This land grab was done to break the Irish people and to take from them their birthright and historic lands. These lands were granted by the English monarchy to the very agents who engaged in wars here, in Great Britain and on the Continent in the service of the crown. The Irish people paid the price for these wars. Thus, the Home Rule movement, the rack-rent and the absentee landlord emerged as features of our history which took centuries to unwind. The Parliament was unrepresentative, undemocratic and, indeed, voted itself out of existence to facilitate the Act of Union in 1800.

The instruments being revoked by this Bill contain the mundane day-to-day administration of Government which echoes the economic circumstances, the structure of the administration and how this was progressed. One can see duties being imposed on imports, bans on imports, restrictions on sea traffic and isolation of vessels.

As it seems I have left some of my speech behind on my desk, I will conclude. It is clearly time that we revoked many of these instruments. I noted from the earlier comments of Members on all sides of the House that there is a warm welcome for all aspects of the Bill. I anticipate and hope it will get safe passage through the Houses, and I look forward to that in time.

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