Brendan Ryan (Labour)

I am intrigued that the Interpretation Bill 2000 is going to be one of the most difficult pieces of legislation to interpret.

Something is seriously wrong and I do not know what it is. Section 6 is a fine example. It intends to be a catch-all to prevent people having to brandish their spears to prove they are entitled to enter the Houses of the Oireachtas, or something like that from the 14th century. It states that if the changes conflict with "text, purpose and context" they cannot apply. It might avoid a few awkward situations but we are not really sure what it means.

We are trying to update the law without identifying where the problem is. If the problem is anything other than a simple textual matter it will still exist in so far as its text, purpose and context permit.