Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have contributed to the debate on at least three statute law revision Bills and on every occasion I have welcomed the legislation because we were getting rid of legislation that was on the Statute Book that was superfluous or had been superseded. That is good in many ways because it means that for parliamentarians and those who are trying to ascertain what laws are still valid in the State, it is easier to figure out what is useful, binding and can have an impact on our economic and political future.

This legislation relates to a different period from previous revision Acts. I had no problem repealing the legislation in the previous Bills because they were British laws. This Bill represents the first move to repeal Acts of the Free State and of the new State to which Eamon de Valera changed it. It is a little more difficult to look at these laws because there are connections with today. For example, one of the Acts that is being repealed is the Garda Síochána (Temporary Provisions) Act 1923. When that was introduced, the Title referred to the Civic Guard, not An Garda Síochána. The amendment to change the Title was tabled towards the end of the debate by Cathal O'Shannon. That was a declaration by the State that the RIC and the DMP were at an end and a new police force was being set up. We need to consider the context, which in a number of these Acts in the first page of the Schedule relates to the Civil War and the outworkings of the war.

The Public Safety (Emergency Powers) Act 1923 is being quietly repealed. That legislation allowed for 77 official State executions during the Civil War. It is good that it is being repealed. I have no problem with that but it is being repealed without a proper discussion or information pack to explain what was its effect. This ties in with the need for everything we are repealing to be documented in a single place, as Deputy Cullinane said, in order that people are aware that they were part of the legislation framework of the time and that there is a single source for them, which is searchable at a moment's notice.

The Deputy also referred to other legislation which related to the poverty of the time. Arthur Griffith's family needed to be looked after by the State. He died soon after the Free State was founded and he must not have had a pension or anything else. He had given huge service to the Republic in all the years he was publishing, working towards the Republic and founding Sinn Féin. The legislation in this regard is out of sync with the comments quoted by Deputy Cullinane. A sum of £500 was paid annually to his wife with £200 paid both to his son and daughter and £100 paid to his sister. That seems like buttons in today's money but there were large sums for the time. His son and daughter were also young. I do not say they should not have received this money.

The Schedule also includes the Connaught Rangers (Pensions) Act 1936. They were included in the pension records published online in recent years relating to the period between 1916 and the Civil War. These people had given their all. Some were arrested and killed and they were an afterthought. They were not captured by the Military Service Pensions Acts of 1924 and 1934. If the Connaught Rangers had to be covered by two Acts, somebody must have missed out.

Legislation relating to the Spanish Civil War has also been mentioned, including the Spanish Civil War (Non-Intervention) Act 1937. It is probably proper that the State did not take a decision if it was to be avowedly neutral. During the Second World War, any Allied soldier who landed in Ireland was allowed to cross the Border, but German soldiers were arrested and held in Wicklow. In this case, the State had already allowed-----

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