Ann Ormonde (Fianna Fail)

This is my first opportunity to wish the Minister of State, Deputy Tom Kitt, well in his new role. I listened carefully to the debate, particularly the contribution of Senator Norris. The Senator has such a knowledge of background information and I respect his knowledge and training. I never heard of the term "Crom abú" and I would like to speak with him about that at a later stage.

I thank the Minister of State for giving us a thorough explanation of the background to this Bill, as well as its contents. The process of revision of pre-Independence legislation will give clarity and certainty on the state of the law today. This Bill is an important part of that process. The principle underpinning the Bill is important as it is a democratic principle of a modern constitutional system. The principle is that our laws should be enacted by the representatives of the people. Some of these laws were enacted by entirely foreign parliaments. The parliament in Great Britain passed the laws which are set out in parts two and three of the Schedule to this Bill. Many of the laws which we are now repealing, listed in part four, were passed by the United Kingdom Parliament after the Act of Union. This was a parliament which had some Irish MPs, but which was certainly not representative of the Irish people and did not enjoy the support of the majority of people of Ireland.

Many of the Acts being repealed in this Bill were passed by parliaments from which Catholics were excluded. Nearly all of these Acts were passed by parliaments in which women were forbidden to sit. These are not statutes which enjoy any great democratic credentials. There is also a fundamental problem with our modern State maintaining so many laws on the Statute Book that were not signed by our elected President, but which were assented to by a foreign monarch. These are laws from an imperial era which have no place in a modern republic. Of course, it is not possible to rewrite the entire Statute Book overnight. There were very good reasons to maintain pre-existing statutes in the early days of the State, until modern laws could replace them. In the last eight decades, a great number of pre-1922 statutes have been repealed. This has not only occurred in the major revision Acts of 1962 and 1983, but also in some of the very important pieces of consolidating legislation which have been enacted in the Oireachtas.

We have finally reached a stage where we can look forward to the complete modernisation of our Statute Book. This Bill is only part of that modernisation process. It repeals laws which no longer have any use or effect, but there are still many laws on our Statute Book enacted before Independence which still have an effect. These must also be modernised. I am glad the Taoiseach has made it a priority of his to carry on this project. Many people are working on this project, such as the experts in the Law Reform Commission who are preparing a Bill to modernise our land law system. It is appalling to think that laws relating to contracts for the sale of land date back to penal times. Our land ownership statutes were passed in the 19th century, during the heyday of the landlord class. These laws were modernised in Britain many decades ago, but they still remain in force in Ireland. It is surely time that these be replaced with modern laws. I thank those experts who are working hard to achieve that goal.

I thank the Minister of State for giving us such a comprehensive explanation of this Bill. I hope that the momentum will be maintained and that in a short number of years, Members will be able to state they have swept away the last remnants of the empire.