asked the Minister for Justice the up-to-date position in relation to the proposed reform of the law of nullity in Ireland.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Law of Nullity.
8.
I would refer the Deputy to my reply to Question No. 413 of 9 November 1978 in the course of which I indicated that the law of nullity was under examination by the Law Reform Commission and that I could not consider asking for Government approval for any changes in the law until the commission have made their recommendations. The Law Reform Commission have not yet reported on the matter.
Has the Minister any indication of when the report from the Law Reform Commission is expected?
I have no indication from the Law Reform Commission as to when they might report.
The matter is in——
The matter is with the Law Reform Commission.
And obviously could remain there for months or years.
I would not like to say that I share with the Deputy the type of confidence that he has in the Law Reform Commission.
Would the Minister be concerned to ensure that steps would be taken to reform the law in this area?
We are all concerned in this area because of the complexity of the matter. The matter is with the Law Reform Commission and when they are ready to report on it, then whatever steps have to be taken will be taken.
Is the Minister aware whether, among the many matters which the Law Reform Commission have to consider, this one is getting any degree of priority?
I am not aware of what priority this has over any other matter that the Law Reform Commission have before them at present. If the Deputy wants me to, I will try to get that information for him. Perhaps the Deputy himself should table a question to the Taoiseach to whom the Law Reform Commission have direct responsibility.
As far as the Minister himself is concerned, would he wish that the Law Reform Commission would give this matter a degree of priority over other matters within his own competence?
I am calling Question No. 9.
I am satisfied that the Law Reform Commission are doing their job as they should be doing it.
That is not the answer.
What does the Deputy want me to do? Do they want me to make the same mistakes as the Attorney General under their Government made?
The Minister is evading the question.
I am evading nothing.
Does the Minister accept that the responsibility for introducing any proposed change remains with the Government and that undue delays going on for a long time by some group like the Law Reform Commission would not remove from the Government and the Minister the responsibility for introducing a change of law? One could adduce from the Minister's reply——
That is a statement.
During the term of office of the last Government the then Attorney General put out a fairly detailed discussion paper containing some provisional recommendations on nullity law. Some of the proposals led to so much criticism that when Deputy Kelly became Attorney General he decided to refer the whole matter to the Law Reform Commission. That decision was made shortly before the change of Government and it was endorsed by the present Attorney General when he took office. Apart from the fact that the Law Reform Commission are an independent body set up by statute we must bear in mind it was precisely because this matter turned out to be so complex that it was referred to the commission for thorough examination. I hope the commission will be able to make their recommendations soon but when they are asked to deal with something that has been found to be very complex it would be particularly unfair of me to say anything that would suggest that they were unduly delaying the matter. The members of the commission obviously are aware of the structural problems that can arise—after all these are the people who are dealing with the problems—and I have no doubt that they are as anxious as anybody else to have it dealt with as soon as possible. It is even more important that it should be dealt with properly.