Dan Boyle (Green Party)

I will not detain the House long. This Bill, which is the third in a series of similar Bills to come to the House, is to be welcomed. The aim is to clean up our Statute Book and remove superfluous legislation. The introduction of the Bill is an important action for the Government to take and part of a valuable process. While detailed in its scope, the Bill is mainly a listing of all Acts to be excised as a result of its passage.

Most of the interest is in the historical nature of the Bill and the activities of predecessor Parliaments. I note that the Irish Parliament, before the Act of Union, engaged in much citizenship work, naturalising quite a number of citizens. There even seems to have been a version of NAMA in 1748, when Viscount Dillon's estates in Mayo and Roscommon were sold for the payment of debts, which seemed to exercise people greatly at the time. Many of the Acts instituted after the Act of Union in 1801 affect this country only indirectly, and those have been superseded by other, more detailed Acts.

I note Senator Hannigan's comments about the cleaning of Cork Harbour. I am not sure whether that would solve any of the current difficulties. In view of the fact that we have just had a meeting with the ESB about Inniscarra dam and how we can prevent future incidents of flooding, it would be more in order for this and our sister House to consider what legislative means, as well as appropriate resources, are required to prevent events such as have occurred in recent weeks.

I welcome the Bill and look forward to the completion of the process. We are doing the country a service in creating a canon of law that is more logically structured and reflective of the needs of our current citizens. I thank the Minister of State for introducing the Bill to the House.