Apart from the four Restatements displayed on the Office of the Attorney General website, the former Statute Law Revision Unit in that Office in association with relevant Departments had prepared drafts of further Restatements. However, due to pending amending legislation and other reasons, the draft Restatements were not brought to certification stage although some Departments displayed informal versions on their websites.
In May 2006, the Government decided that the Law Reform Commission should prepare a Programme of Statute Law Restatement under the Statute Law (Restatement) Act, 2002. In late September 2006, sanction for three researchers for the project was obtained from the Department of Finance and the three researchers were engaged by the Commission. In January 2007, sanction for a project manager and an administrative support person in the Commission was obtained.
Since November 2006, the Commission has considered the priorities to be given to the suggestions made during the consultation exercise and has developed draft Restatements of the Freedom of Information Acts 1997 and 2003, the Data Protection Acts, 1988 and 2003 and the Law Reform Commission Act, 1975.
In December 2006, the Commission team met with a legislative software engineering company to discuss the possible technological aspects to the Project. In the immediate future, the Commission will proceed to recruit a project manager and administrative support person. The Commission will then be in a position to develop the details of the Programme and an Implementation Plan.
