Michael Kitt (Fianna Fail)

In the course of the Bill and its passage through Dáil Éireann I proposed two amendments, which were accepted. These came about as a result of ongoing research in the Office of the Attorney General and following new information from the Departments concerned. I acknowledge the presence of many of the staff who have been assisting us in the Attorney General's office and the work done by them.

In the first amendment the reference to Parliaments and the Statue of Winchester were removed and the reference to "the United Kingdom" was extended to read "the United Kingdom of Britain and Ireland", which was the correct title between 1801 and 1922. The reference to Parliaments was deleted because not all the Acts for repeal could properly be said to have been passed by Parliament. Rather, some had emanated from executive authority. This deletion also meant the reference to the Statute of Winchester observance in Ireland, which is a writ, could be listed alongside the other Acts in the Schedule. Accordingly, this amendment also deleted the reference to the Statute of Winchester that had been in section 1(2).

The second amendment is linked to the first in that it altered the Schedule to reflect some of the changes made by virtue of the first amendment and updated the list of Acts for appeal. Ongoing research in the Office of the Attorney General showed that another 16 Acts were suitable for appeal and these were included. However, it came to light that some of these Acts that were included for repeal might still have a modern application. While I am keen to remove as many ancient Acts as possible I am also aware of the need for certainty so where any doubt existed I decided to prudently err on the side of caution. As a result this amendment removed 20 Acts, about which doubts had been expressed, from the Schedule.

The net effect of these two amendments is that the Bill provides for the repeal of 206 old statutes. Although when the Bill was last considered by this House it repealed 218 Acts and the reduction in the number of Acts could be seen as a retrograde step, I assure Senators that the removal of any Act from the Schedule does not preclude its being repealed in the future. I intend to keep all the pre-1922 Acts under review and to repeal them as soon as it is feasible.