Brendan Ryan (Labour)

Apart from the obligation of tidying up, what legal force did any of these laws have? Is there a secret fear in the depths of some Department that somebody will use them? There was allegedly a student in Trinity College, Dublin, who demanded a glass of sherry, wine or ale with his examinations because of a statute in the college. He was told he was not wearing his sword so he would have to leave the examination. Do these elements, which could cause problems in the future, exist or is it simply an exercise in tidying up?

In principle, it is time we moved on from written law to electronic law. This would be a cause of great relief because amendments would be inserted into the formal electronic text and people would not be forced to chase legislation through 14 different Bills to find the desired amendment.

The Irish Medicines Board (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2005, where five different searches have been necessitated by the amendment of five different pieces of legislation, is a classic example of this. I welcome the Statute Law Revision (Pre-1922) Bill 2004 and compliment those who produced a Bill containing fascinating snippets of our history.