Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputies for their consideration and for their considered views expressed during this debate. As legislators and custodians of the Statute Book, we should see our obligations as extending beyond the creation of new legislation to also include the review and removal of that which is no longer necessary. I was pleased to see so many speakers from all sides of the House during the Second Stage and Committee Stage debates recognising the importance of this process and the work of the statute law revision programme. This Bill will revoke all Government orders or secondary instruments made prior to 1821, apart from a specific list of 43 instruments being preserved. In total the Bill expressly revokes 5,782 secondary instruments and implicitly repeals thousands of others, making it the largest ever repealing measure by express repeals in this or any other jurisdiction. The Bill is part of a broader series of measures which have been enacted since the establishment of the statute law revision programme 13 years ago. This Bill is clearly not the end of the process but constitutes a further milestone in the creation of a modern and accessible Statute Book and paves the way for further legislative clarity measures including the assessment of more recent legislation. I assure the House that the statute law revision programme will be continuing its work, both on later instruments and also on reviewing Acts passed since independence in 1922. I hope to be in a position to bring further proposals to the House in due course once that work is further advanced. I wish to pay tribute to all of the people who have been working in the Department on the statute law revision programme over a sustained number of years and thank them for their work.

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