Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Bill is the latest of a series of measures which have been enacted since the establishment of the statute law revision programme over a decade ago, as well as further measures planned for the future, to overhaul the Irish Statute Book. The Bill is the largest repealing measure in the history of this or any other state, measured by the number of laws expressly repealed. Previous statute law revision Bills have been brought before this House and received cross-party support. Those Bills have dealt with primary legislation dating from before Independence. This Bill now continues the process and deals with secondary instruments such as proclamations and orders.

The Bill revokes all Government orders or other secondary instruments made prior to 1821, apart from a specific list of 43 instruments which are being preserved. In total, the Bill expressly revokes 5,782 secondary instruments, and repeals almost 7,000 others implicitly. In addition to the revocation of secondary instruments, the Bill also amends the Statutory Instruments Act 1947 by removing the exemption of certain statutory instruments or classes of statutory instruments from publication, which will lead to greater transparency in our Statute Book.

Statute law revision refers to the process of removing legislation from the Statute Book that has lost its purpose and relevance. The term "Statute Book" is a broad term referring to all primary legislation - i.e., statutes or Acts - and secondary legislation, which consists of orders, regulations, rules, schemes, by-laws and similar instruments, that have not been formally repealed or revoked. Much material remains on the Statute Book simply because of inertia, and this material is obsolete or has long since served its purpose, or has ceased to be in force without ever being formally repealed. However, until it is actually removed, it will continue to clutter the Statute Book. The purpose of such revision is to enhance public accessibility to the Statute Book and pave the way for further modernisation measures. There is a particular need for such revision in Ireland, as we have a unique legislative past which has left us with a complex stock of legislation, with enactments from Parliaments of Ireland, England, Great Britain and the United Kingdom. Ireland's pre-Independence statute law consists of primary legislation - public, local and personal, and private Acts of Parliament - and secondary legislation such as Government proclamations and orders. Best practice in regulatory governance requires states to review their stock of legislation on a regular basis and to repeal and revoke that which is spent, unused, unnecessary, or otherwise appropriate for removal from the Statute Book.

The benefits of statute law revision, which have been well documented, include the creation of certainty as to which laws remain in force, facilitation of the process of regulatory reform, enabling modernisation of the Statute Book, enhancement of public accessibility to the Statute Book, the facilitation of steps to put the texts of in-force laws online, the facilitation of future legislative measures to repeal or re-enact legislation, with amendments where necessary, and the codification or consolidation of the statute law of the State.

This Bill continues the important work of the statute law reform programme, which is part of the current Programme for Government 2011-2016 and is a specific element of the public service reform plan for 2014 to 2016. The current programme of statute law revision was established in 2003 and has resulted in four Statute Law Revision Acts, in 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2012. Collectively, these Acts have repealed approximately 95% of pre-Independence primary legislation either expressly or implicitly. Taken together, this Bill and its predecessors expressly repeal 13,547 pieces of legislation and implicitly repeal more than 47,000 others.

In 2012, the statute law revision programme was transferred from the Attorney General's office to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. Following this transfer, the Statute Law Revision Act 2012 completed the review of pre-Independence primary legislation. In July 2013, the Government approved a second phase of statute law revision, including the drafting of this Bill to revoke secondary instruments. A draft list of instruments and details of the Bill was published by the Department.

The preparation of the Bill began in September 2013 with the chronological identification and assessment of numerous secondary instruments such as orders and proclamations. There is no single source, or even index, of pre-Independence secondary instruments applicable to Ireland. As a result, a full review of items contained in The Dublin Gazette, The London Gazetteand certain other printed collections was carried out by the statute law revision programme. Secondary instruments identified following this review were then examined as to whether they were applicable to Ireland and suitable for revocation. There are 43 instruments that were found to be applicable to Ireland but not suitable for repeal, and these are listed in Schedule 1 for retention. A total of 5,782 instruments were identified as suitable for revocation, and these have been listed in Schedule 2. As with previous Statute Law Revision Bills, the format of the legislation will be to revoke all instruments coming within the ambit of the Bill, except those listed in Schedule 1. Schedule 2 provides, for information purposes, a list of revoked instruments.

The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform engaged in a consultation exercise with other affected Departments, and a draft list of instruments and details of the Bill was published on the Department's website in September 2014. In addition, relevant bodies and organisations that could potentially be affected by proposed repeals continue to be made aware of the ongoing work of the statute law revision programme.

A review of the instruments listed in the Bill gives significant insight into the regulatory environment of the period in question. It includes details in regard to matters at international, national and local level, concerning areas as diverse as the exportation of corn and cattle, Catholic suppression and the plantations, quarantine on account of the plague, pardon of deserters and rewards for information in relation to murders and thefts, and also orders for the sitting of Parliament. Examples include an order of 1815 directing that a prayer of thanksgiving be held for the victory at the Battle of Waterloo; an order of 1654 prohibiting any papist, Irish or other, whatever his nation, to teach school or instruct children; a declaration of 1655 ordering the removal of all Irish papists remaining within Dublin; and a declaration of 1560 prohibiting the sale of corn from the Pale.

One of the earliest references in the Bill is to an order concerning the publication of the Magna Carta in 1215. As many Senators will know, the Magna Carta is celebrating its 800th anniversary this year and its significance still resonates today, as it is seen as the foundation of both the common law and many human rights instruments. It is of note that aspects of it and the Irish Magna Carta of 1216 continue in force in Ireland today, having been retained by the Statute Law Revision Act 2007.

I wish to outline to the House the main provisions of the Bill. Section 1 is the interpretation section. I want to refer to one definition in particular. "Instrument" is a key term of the Bill and is defined to cover three categories of instrument. Category (a) means any instrument that describes itself as an order, regulation, rule, by-law, scheme, or proclamation that is made under statutory, charter or executive or administrative authority or published in The Dublin Gazette orThe London Gazette. Category (b) covers similar instruments, irrespective of their descriptions, which are of a regulatory, general or public nature, where such instruments were made under statutory, charter or executive or administrative authority or published in The Dublin Gazetteor The London Gazette. This category will capture instruments that are akin to orders, regulations and rules but are not described as such. The definition specifically excludes charters and letters patent, because these will be the subject of a separate Bill, in accordance with the Government decision of July 2013 to which I referred to earlier. Category (c) relates to instruments referred to in Schedule 2, which lists instruments that will be revoked by this Bill.

Section 2(1) is the central feature of the Bill. It provides for a fundamental clarification and simplification of the Statute Book by drawing a line at 1 January 1821 and revoking all instruments made prior to that point except for the instruments listed in Schedule 1. Schedule 1 contains the instruments that it is considered necessary to retain. Section 2(2)(a) saves the instruments in Schedule 1. Section 2(2)(b) saves, for the avoidance of doubt, any transitional or continuing provision that applies to any instrument that has already been revoked prior to the present Bill. Section 2(5) provides a clear new power to revoke the instruments in Schedule 1, as in some cases the original power to revoke has ceased to apply, such as where the order was made under the prerogative or has become unworkable. Section 3(1) provides that, for information purposes, Schedule 2 will list the instruments identified by the statute law revision programme as coming within the scope of the revocation by section 2. These are the specific instruments which were identified as being obsolete, unnecessary or as having ceased to be in force. Section 3(2) provides that an instrument being omitted from Schedule 2 does not imply that the instrument is saved. Section 3(3) provides that the inclusion of an instrument in Schedule 2 does not deem it to have been of full force and effect immediately prior to the Act.

Section 4 assigns citations to any instrument that is listed in Schedule 1. The section is based on section 4 of the Statute Law Revision Acts 2007 and 2009. However, unlike in those Acts, there is no reference to existing citations as none of the instruments already had citations. Section 5 provides for a standard savings clause and is based on section 9(1) of the Statute Law Revision Act 2007 and section 6(1) of both the subsequent Acts.

Section 6 amends the Statutory Instruments Act 1947 to remove the power to exempt statutory instruments from publication. Section 6(a)(i) inserts a new subsection, 2A, into the Act of 1947, to exempt instruments made under certain sections of the Defence Act 1954 and the Defence (Amendment) Act 1990 from the operation of the general application of the Act of 1947. Instruments made under those sections will not be affected by the amendments to the 1947 Act. Section 6(a)(ii) repeals sections 3 and 4 of the Act of 1947 and section 6(a)(iii) removes references to directions from section 2 of the Act of 1947, which is a consequential amendment. This will have the effect of removing the power, which has existed for nearly 70 years, to exempt instruments from normal publication. I hope the House will agree that this provision is a further important step towards transparency in our Statute Book. Paragraph (b) of section 6 will delete the obligation of the Stationery Office to send hard copies of all instruments to the chambers of commerce. Given that all statutory instruments are now available online, the need to send out hard copies has significantly lessened and the removal of this provision will achieve savings and greater efficiency.

Section 7 provides for evidence of instruments and is based on section 8 of the 2007 Act. There are, however, a greater number of sources for the pre-1820 instruments. It also includes a number of abbreviations used in the Schedules. Section 8 provides for the powers in relation to evidence of early Acts to transfer from the Taoiseach to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. This reflects the transfer of the programme to my Department in 2012 to which I alluded earlier. Section 9 provides for a Short Title and collective citations including a collective citation for the 36 previous Statute Law Revision Acts.

Schedule 1 lists the instruments to be retained. Each part of Schedule 1 lists the instruments which it is considered are not appropriate for revocation at this stage and are being retained in force specifically. The format of the Schedule is based on the Schedules to the Statute Law Revision Acts 2007, 2009 and 2012 with the addition of a new column 1 with a reference number and a new column 4 to identify the Minister conferred with a revocation power in respect of that instrument pursuant to section 2(5). Schedule 2 lists the specific instruments identified in the course of the review as appropriate for revocation at this stage because they have ceased to be relevant or have become unnecessary. They will be instruments which, while applicable to Ireland, have been identified in the course of the review as appropriate for revocation because they are spent, obsolete or have otherwise become unnecessary, and where no existing revocation has been identified at this stage of the research. They are not saved by the saver in section 2, and thus will cease to be in force following enactment of the Bill. Other instruments that do not relate to Ireland or have only a tenuous connection with Ireland will not be included in Schedule 2 but will be implicitly revoked by virtue of the general revocation in section 2.

Having regard to the volume of legislation involved and the careful analysis given to each instrument, it is clear that the Bill is the culmination of a significant programme of work. The progressing of the statute law revision programme has required meticulous research and has underpinned further modernisation and accessibility measures such as the electronic availability of the majority of Acts that were retained by the Statute Law Revision Act 2007. The Law Reform Commission has made available for the first time the text of most of the pre-1922 public general Acts that remain in force and those texts are now on the Irish Statute Book website. In addition, the statute law revision programme has provided assistance to other Departments on the repeal and re-enactment in modern form of extant pre-1922 Acts in some subsequent sector-specific legislation. The project staff also received texts of legal instruments and valuable assistance and co-operation from the Oireachtas Library and the National Library. I express my gratitude to those institutions for their continued and ongoing support and assistance. I give a special mention to the Irish Manuscripts Commission, which was responsible for the publication of the five volumes of the Proclamations of Ireland between 1660 and 1820, edited by James Kelly with Marian Lyons. These volumes were of great assistance particularly due to the quality and clarity of the texts contained within the publication.

As I mentioned, the Bill should be viewed in the context of the wider programme which includes not just the major Statute Law Revision Acts already enacted, but further measures planned as part of the next steps for the programme. I am pleased that work is well under way on the next Bill which will repeal spent and obsolete Acts enacted after 1922. This is the first comprehensive review of Acts enacted by the Oireachtas. Work has also commenced on a further Bill to continue the review of secondary instruments to dovetail with the current Bill and to deal with the post-1820 period. The Bill before the House today will achieve the repeal of almost 6,000 spent or obsolete legal instruments. The removal of these instruments represents another important step towards the aim of a clear and concise Statute Book which reduces the regulatory burden on businesses and citizens and enhances accessibility for the general public. I commend the Bill to the House.