Tom Kitt (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)

Therefore, although we removed some Acts, we may have current equivalent modern legislation instead. For example, we repealed the old statutes on tuberculosis and food safety, which have been replaced by modern legislation.

Senator Norris referred to re-codificiation. The current programme covers various areas, such as customs, liquor licensing and employment rights within Departments. Work is already under way to consolidate and reform such legislation. Senator Norris and Senator Mansergh also referred to the Statute of Winchester which deals with fairs and markets in church yards. I will endeavour to obtain as much information as I can on other items of legislation.

Senator Tuffy referred in particular to section 2(2) and I am aware of her expertise in this respect. I will examine the point she has raised to see if there are any deficiencies and will revert to the matter on Committee Stage.

Senator Quinn asked about the number of pre-1922 statutes. We are counting them at present. There is a very large number of them. I will try to get precise figures. If we can, we will compile a full and exact list in the Office of the Attorney General.

Statute law restatement is different from revision. It does not repeal old Acts but is a faster administrative consolidation which helps the user of legislation but does not use up valuable Oireachtas time and resources. The Statute Law Restatement Act 2002 enables the Attorney General to make available up-to-date versions of Acts of the Oireachtas in a readable form. These versions, known as restatements, do not alter the substance of the law in any way but present the text of a particular Act as it has been amended since enactment. Accordingly, they are not reforming or revision Acts but simply represent the updated versions of existing Acts.

The policy and procedure of restatement also fall within the Government agenda on regulatory reform, with the objective of making legislation more user-friendly and accessible. Further information on the policy and process is set out on the website of the Office of the Attorney General. Four restatements have already been certified: the Sale of Goods Act, the Defence Act, the Succession Act and the Tourist Traffic Act. They are available on the website.

Like Senator O'Rourke, I have much experience of consolidation work in that Department and I agree with the comments she has made on consolidation and the need for much more work in this area. This has been a useful exercise and an interesting debate, where we have cast our minds back and have rightly discussed the historic nature of some of the old legislation. As Senator Quinn said, this is a reminder to update our legislation, to make it user-friendly, to consolidate and reform. This is all part of a broad regulatory agenda pursued by the Government and by the Taoiseach in a determined manner. I thank Senators for their contributions.