Sheila Terry (Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 2:

In page 4, between lines 18 and 19, to insert the following:

"2.—The purpose of this Act includes the giving effect to the following——

(a) Article 2 of the Additional Protocol to the 1983 Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons, and

(b) Articles 67 to 69 of the Schengen Convention.".

It is always useful to find a purpose provision in a Bill. It not only helps us as legislators, it is even more helpful to the lay person, who can then find out the purpose of a Bill by reading one section. I disagree with those who say the Long Title of every Bill expresses its purpose, which is simply not true. An example is the National Monuments (Amendment) Bill 2004, the Long Title of which reads, "An Act to amend and extend the National Monuments Act." A sentence like that is of little use to the reader and tells us nothing of the Bill's purpose. Every Act should have a purpose provision, which is a small step towards making our legislation more understandable, and I ask the Minister to accept this amendment.