Question to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (Mr. Brendan Howlin, TD)
To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform his plans for a major review and overhaul of the Irish Statute Book and to repeal obsolete regulations and laws; and if he will make a statement on the matter. -Jerry Buttimer
On the 25th September, I announced that the Government had approved the continuation of a major programme to overhaul the Irish statute book and repeal thousands of obsolete regulations and laws.
As part of the programme, the Government has approved the drafting of a number of Statute Law Revision Bills, which will continue the task of simplifying the statute book and improving its accessibility in accordance with the commitment contained in the Programme for Government.
The Bills will review different elements of our statute book, including post 1922 primary and secondary legislation as well as pre 1922 secondary legislation and charters. The intention is that the first in a series of Bills will be introduced into the Oireachtas by the middle of 2014. The new Bills will build upon the clarity brought by the Statute Law Revision Acts 2007 to 2012 which reviewed all primary legislation enacted prior to independence and repealed those which were spent or obsolete. The new Statute Law Revision Bills will further reduce the outdated and unnecessary legislation contained in the statute book and pave the way for consideration of further modernisation measures such as codification.