Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 3:

In page 6, before section 5 but in Part 2, to insert the following new section:

"5.—(1) All Acts shall contain a provision causing the Act to lapse in whole within a period not greater than three years.

(2) An Act which has lapsed under this section may be renewed by a positive resolution of both Houses at any time prior to the expiry of the sunset period.".

I said on Second Stage, a year ago, that I intended to propose this amendment on Committee Stage. The new section I have proposed, which will provide for the sunsetting of legislation, does not relate to Florida or older people enjoying long periods of time by the beach. It is understandable that the Oireachtas is frequently required to pass new legislation when problems emerge in any aspect of society. Amendment No. 3 provides that all future Acts will become redundant after a three-year period if the intention of the Acts is no longer real and substantive. The Government can ensure that such Acts do not become redundant by passing a positive resolution of both Houses. Such a resolution will ensure that the three-year sunset provision is put to one side and the provisions of the Acts can continue in force.

I have proposed this amendment because I feel that the way in which this country's legislation is produced can be changed if we provide that the Oireachtas can consider making future legislation redundant after three years. We can facilitate the use of non-legislative means of solving problems by allowing the Office of the Chief Parliamentary Counsel and Departments to avail of such a provision, which is in place in other jurisdictions. Currently, the automatic response when problems arise is to decide new legislation is needed to sort it out. I have proposed that a three-year sunset clause be included in all legislation as a standard provision.

The Minister of State referred earlier to the amassed deadwood of post-1309 legislation, which we abolished last month. We increase the amount of legislation on the Statute Book on a daily and yearly basis. We need to consider the substantial question of how much of the legislation will be relevant in the future. The acceptance of this amendment will allow the Oireachtas to consider the relevance of various legislation to a modern-day setting. The three-year sunset rule will apply unless the legislation is renewed by "a positive resolution of both Houses". Such a resolution would enable the Act to continue in force until a future time. The existence of a sunset provision would enable legislators and policymakers to provide a non-legislative solution to many of the problems we face.