Eugene Regan (Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister for the explanations he has given. I have no difficulty with any aspect of this Bill. I would like to comment on an issue I came across, in a legal context, some time ago. In her 2006 judgment in the case of Irwin v. Deasy, Ms Justice Laffoy said that one of the problems with co-ownership is that if one of the co-owners is in debt, a judgment mortgage cannot be enforced. She identified as a lacuna in the law the fact that in the case of registered land, the courts do not have the jurisdiction to order sale in lieu of partition. This is one example of the kind of intricate problems that can arise in this sector. I understand it is rectified in Part 7 of this Act, which deals with co-ownership.

The first Government of the Free State decided, in its constitution, to continue all existing statutes, whatever their origin. This Bill contains an extraordinary list of old statutes, many of which predate this State, that are being repealed in whole or in part. It is extraordinary that so much of our legislation predates the foundation of the State. It would come as a surprise to many people that the statutes in question are still in existence. As a result of this Bill, law students will be relieved of any requirement to scan the statutes in question. It is noteworthy that the Statute De Donis Conditionalibus 1285 and the Statute Quia Emptores 1290 will be completely gone. It seems that part of the Maintenance and Embracery Act 1634 and the Statute of Frauds 1695 will still be with us, as we are not repealing them in full. We will have to live with some of these older statutes for some time. I compliment the Law Reform Commission and the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform on their extraordinary work in drafting this Bill. I do not intend to make any further amendments, suggestions or observations at this stage. I thank the Minister for presenting this excellent legislation, which has been debated at length by both Houses and by the Oireachtas committees, to the House today.