James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Where one has difference in style, one will have a difference in debate.

It actually speaks to a bigger issue, namely, the lack of plain English. That puts up a serious barrier in law for people to be able to access their rights. We heard much commentary about the lack of proper eviction notices. Very often people do not know their rights and when they go to look them up, it is hard for them to understand their actual rights. We still often see legal doublets in our law such as "null and void" and "without due care and attention". There is a historical reason for this, in that people spoke French, English and Latin in the past. Plain English is something that we need to desperately look at for our future law, however.

There is no question that the current situation in this area is unacceptable and needs to be addressed quickly. I am happy Deputy Ó Laoghaire brought this Bill forward. We are not opposing it on Second Stage. The Government's Bill will be brought forward quite quickly. While the intention is to have it enacted early in the new year, supporting the progress of Deputy Ó Laoghaire's Bill to Committee Stage will keep the pressure on the Government. Passing legislation in this area as quickly as possible is in the spirit of co-operation. I agree with Deputy Howlin that the focus in here has very much been on the Executive over the past number of decades, with not enough focus on the Parliament and on using the expertise and the knowledge across the House. I hope the Government will continue to acknowledge this and will work in a spirit of co-operation.

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