Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)

Despite the fact that we spend most of our time debating Bills and Acts, it is rare that we get an opportunity to discuss legislation in a general sense. I very much welcome the Bill and the opportunity to discuss the state of our Statute Book and the ways in which it might be improved. Special mention must be made at the outset of Mr. Edward Donelan, the director of the statute law revision unit, who has brought the pre-1922 project to fruition against the odds. The Bill is a testament to his commitment not only to public service life, but to the improvement of the Statute Book.

While the Bill which seeks to improve the Statute Book will not solve the problem of inaccessible legislation, it is undeniably a step in the right direction. It focuses on the period prior to 1922 and removes a significant amount of dead wood from the Statute Book. Sadly, its purpose ends there. The purpose of such legislation in England is to pave the way for the publication of a new edition of revised statutes. Just as textual amendments are neatly and precisely made to the mythological Statute Book in the hope that the changes effected will some day be incorporated in their intended locations, statute law revision Acts are passed to ensure that any newly-published series of statutes is more relevant and reflective of contemporary statute law. The central point is that the benefits of a Statute Law Revision Act can never be fully appreciated until a set of revised statutes is published. It is evident from the Statute Book that many Acts have been amended and many others have been repealed. The difficulty for users is that we have to piece together all of the different Acts on a given topic before we can know what is the law. The publication of revised statutes would fully address this matter.

The Minister will tell me that statute law restatements are the answer to this problem, but that is not the case. Codification is not the answer either, or at least not at the rate at which the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform produces it. In 2002 he promised to codify liquor licensing legislation and criminal law. Three years later, there is still no sign of either.

The reality is that for the Government and successive Governments, improving the Statute Book takes a back seat to everything else. The Interpretation Bill is a case in point. It was published in 2000, yet five years later it still has not been enacted. This is a demonstration of the Government's commitment to the Statute Book.

Improving the Statute Book has never been a political aim as it does not garner votes for any party. The task of tidying up the Statute Book does not lend itself to immediately visible results and it is a tedious and expensive task. The level of finance expended on this task is not always fairly reflected in the amount of progress that is apparent. The high cost of rendering some order to the Statute Book can provide ammunition for those who are cynical about the merits and effect of such efforts.

The pre-1922 statute law revision project which gave rise to this Bill could not have commenced without the support of the Attorney General and, possibly, the Taoiseach also, but it should not end there. A great deal more work must be done if real improvements are to be made to the Statute Book. I welcome this Bill, not as an end in itself but as a tool towards improving the Statute Book for the future. Go raibh maith agat.