The Government has approved the drafting of a new bill designed to continue the modernisation of the statute book.

Michael McGrath (Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, pictured) said that the move would further reduce what he described as “the outdated and unnecessary legislation cluttering our statute book”.

The Statute Law Revision Bill will assess more pre-independence secondary legislation, building upon the work done by the Statute Law Revision Acts enacted between 2005 and 2016.

These acts reviewed all primary legislation enacted before 1950, repealing laws that were spent or obsolete, as well as all secondary legislation up to 1820.

Further measures

Almost 75,000 acts and instruments have already been examined under this modernisation process.

The proposed bill will continue the review work for a further 40 years, to cover secondary instruments up to 1860.

The Government says that it will be followed by further measures in “a comprehensive programme” to bring the statute book entirely up to date.

Minister McGrath described the task as “a mammoth undertaking” to ensure that the State had a fit-for-purpose statute book.

The go-ahead for the bill follows a lengthy consultation that took place in 2021, and involved all Government departments, bodies, and other stakeholders potentially impacted by the instruments identified.