Tom Kitt (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Cathaoirleach and Senators for their comments. It has been an honour to be here. This is our second time round on this process.

What we are doing with this legislation is truly historic. The Bill will repeal 3,188 statutes, which is far more than any previous statute law revision measure and is more than the entire number of public general Acts of the Oireachtas enacted since Ireland achieved independence in 1922. This Bill is different from what we did previously which repealed previous legislation. Now we have a white list which we will retain, which consists of 1,348 Acts.

Senator Ryan mentioned the tithing of turnips. We could speak all day and night on such issues. I did not get the opportunity to respond to the Senator last night, but as someone who was involved in education, I agree with him that we should try to link with schools on this topic. I will ask officials to follow up on the suggestion made last night that we try to link with students on this subject. If I were a student again, I would love to have the opportunity to delve into the subject. We will do our best to try to link up with the education system. The white list contains all the statutes that will continue in force after the enactment of the Bill, but these statutes will be re-enacted.

I agree the work should continue. The process has been very much driven by the Taoiseach and the Attorney General. I thank our team of officials and those involved in the process over the past two years. They have done tremendous work and provided a great service to the State. We are eternally indebted to them for that.

The Bill is not the end of the process of modernisation of our Statute Book but it is an important step in the process and will provide a blueprint for future measures, not just of statute law revision but also of substantive statute law reform. Our ultimate objective, as Senator O'Rourke stated, is to provide the Irish people with a single legislative code that is clear and accessible. That code will contain only laws enacted by the democratically elected Oireachtas or under European law, Ireland being a member of a Community of equal nations. The Bill will be a major step towards clarity and democratic credibility in the Statute Book.

Clearly, we are dealing with the flow of new legislation and the existing stock, which one might term the "dead wood". It is important to repeat that the flow of new regulations is being tackled through regulatory impact analysis, something introduced across all Departments in June 2005. The approach requires them to consult each other extensively before regulating and to analyse in greater detail the likely impact of Bills and significant statutory instruments before presenting them to the Oireachtas. It is obviously important to state that the Taoiseach and the Government are very keen. Having put in place a good system for the flow of new legislation that has been supported by both Houses, we are now dealing with such dead wood in a very comprehensive fashion.

I sincerely thank the Seanad. We have debated the Bill here several times, and although we did not attract a major audience in the Gallery, we have left our mark on this legislation, and I am privileged to have had the opportunity to steer the legislation through this House.