Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Members for their co-operation and their input into this Bill. The Bill we considered here today proposes the revocation of all statutory and prerogative instruments made before 1 January 1861, except for five instruments, which will be retained. More than 40,000 secondary instruments were reviewed by the Law Reform Commission to ascertain whether they were obsolete or whether they needed to be repealed or retained.That was a huge body of work and I thank everybody involved in that. This Bill is the seventh statute law revision Bill in a programme the aim of which is to ensure that Ireland has a modern and accessible Statute Book. Tidying up all our spent and obsolete secondary instruments made between 1 January 1821 and 1 January 1861 will contribute significantly towards improving the overall regulatory environment in Ireland. It will simplify and modernise our law and make the Statute Book more intelligible. It will save time and money for those who need to know what laws are enforced and will make it easier for people to access justice. This Bill will mean that all primary legislation up to the formation of the State will have been reviewed and the next step is to review all secondary legislation. This is about transparency for our laws and digitalising and giving more people access to the laws that govern our society. I thank everybody for their involvement in the Bill to date.