Tom Kitt (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)

The Government's second amendment merely inserts revised wording to improve the syntax of section 2(2) and addresses an anomaly pointed out by Senator Tuffy on Second Stage. The content of the subsection itself is a standard saving provision included in Statute Law Revision Bills and I will try to explain this in less technical terms.

The Acts included for repeal in this Bill had many far-reaching legislative effects. They not only regulated law and order and the social mores of the previous generations, but Acts or statutes frequently contained many technical provisions dealing with the legislation itself or, in some instances, with previous legislation. For example, in an effort to provide certainty, provisions are sometimes drafted to confirm earlier legislation or the general understanding of existing legislation. These provisions almost always underwrite the status quo. They do not extend previous powers in any way or extend the existing law. These types of provisions are merely confirming in nature. The inclusion of section 2(2) in this Bill ensures that if any of the Acts it is listing for repeal had a similar confirming provision, then the repeal will not prevent the confirming provision from continuing to have effect. I hope my explanation is clear.