Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Bill we have been considering this evening proposes to repeal spent and obsolete Acts enacted between 1922 and 1950. This is the first comprehensive review of Acts enacted by the Oireachtas and will result in a significant reduction in the size of the Statute Book for that period. This Bill is the sixth statute law revision Bill in a programme which aims to ensure that Ireland has a modern and accessible Statute Book. To date the programme has produced the following: the Statute Law Revision (Pre-1922) Act 2005, which repealed a selection of pre-1922 statutes; the Statute Law Revision Act 2007, which was a comprehensive revision of pre-1922 public general Acts; the Statute Law Revision Act 2009, which revised all private Acts up to and including 1750 and all local and personal Acts up to and including 1850; the Statute Law Revision Act 2012, which revised all private Acts from 1750 to 1922 and all local and personal Acts from 1850 to 1922; and the Statute Law Revision Act 2015, which revoked secondary instruments made before 1 January 1921.

By tidying up all of the spent and obsolete legislation enacted between 1922 and 1950, this Bill will contribute significantly to the improvement of the overall regulatory environment in Ireland. It will simplify and modernise our laws and make the Statute Book more intelligible. This will save time and costs for lawyers and others who need to know what laws are in force and will make it easier for the public to access justice.

Before concluding I will address some of the concerns raised during the debate. Senator Colm Burke asked when the error was noticed. It was noticed during the summer and the Department is not aware of any other errors. The Senator will accept that to have only one error, which was due to a name change, in the context of 60,000 items is not bad. Every other Senator has complimented the work of the Department and all involved in this, including those on the JobBridge scheme who have done great work. I thank all of those who were involved and reiterate that one error in the context of 60,000 items is quite good. Senator Burke also expressed concern that this may have implications in the context of ground rent. The Bill will have the effect of negating the original repeal, so we will be back to where we started. Therefore, there should not be any complications arising with regard to ground rent but I will double-check that and revert to the Senator on it.