asked the Taoiseach if he will state when the post of Director of the Statute Law Reform and Consolidation Office was created, the duties of the post, the salary (inclusive) attached to it, when the post of assistant to the director was created, and the salary (inclusive) pertaining thereto; further, how many Consolidation Bills and Bills reforming the statute law have been enacted since the posts were established, and the titles of such Bills.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Directors of the Statute Law Reform and Consolidation Office.
The posts of director and assistant to the director of the Statute Law Reform and Consolidation Office were created on the 1st April, 1951, but the first occupant of the post of assistant to the director did not take up duty until the 7th April, 1952. The inclusive annual salaries of the present holders of the posts are £2,301 and £1,848, respectively.
The director is responsible, under the general instructions of the Attorney-General, for initiating proposals for law reform and consolidation and for preparing draft Bills to give effect to such proposals. In addition, the office prepares for publication the annual volume of the statutes, the separate index thereto and the periodical consolidated index to the statutes.
The Bills for the following law reform, statute law revision and consolidation Acts, which were drafted by the Statute Law Reform and Consolidation Office since its establishment, have been enacted:—Defence Act, 1954; State Property Act, 1954; Arbitration Act, 1954; Mortmain (Repeal of Enactments) Act, 1954; Fisheries (Statute Law Revision) Act, 1956; Civil Service Commissioners Act, 1956; Civil Service Regulation Act, 1956, and Statute of Limitations, 1957, and the texts of the following consolidation Bills drafted by the Office are at present before either the Dáil or the Seanad:—Fisheries (Amendment) Bill, 1957, and Destructive Insects and Pests (Consolidation) Bill, 1957.
Apart from Bills in hands—the drafting of some of which has reached an advanced stage—the Office has completed the drafting of 11 other law reform and consolidation Bills which are at present in course of examination by the various Departments concerned.