Vol. 501 No. 6
19 Mr. Quinn asked the Taoiseach the formal plans, if any, there are to publish relevant statute law enacted before 1922 in view of the success of the publications of Irish Statute Law in CD-ROM from 1922 to 1997; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5041/99]
20 Mr. Quinn asked the Taoiseach the plans, if any, there are for a fully revised Statute Book to be published on CD-ROM, including the deletion of repealed sections and addition of enacted amendments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5044/99]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 19 and 20 together.
As I indicated in response to supplementary questions from Deputy Quinn on 9 February last, the Office of the Attorney General will be considering the publication of pre-1922 legislation on CD-ROM over the coming months. Whether relevant pre-1922 statutes should be published alone or as part of a fully revised Statute Book is one of the issues to be considered. The recent appointment of the director of the statute law revision and consolidation unit in the Office of the Attorney General will assist this process.
Phase 2 of the CD-ROM project to be released in June will include the chronological tables of the statutes 1922 to 1998. For each Act passed since 1922, these tables will give precise details of how the Act has been amended or repealed over time. This is the first step in the process to produce a revised Statute Book.
I share the Deputy's view of the success of the Statute Book on CD-ROM and that the addition of pre-1922 material to the CD-ROM would add significant value to the product.
When does the Taoiseach expect the Attorney General to complete his review of which pre-1922 legislation is relevant and therefore worthy of inclusion? Will the Taoiseach indicate if the new person who has been appointed to this area will hold discussions with the Law Library, the Law Society and other legal practitioners to ensure the format and content of this electronic Statute Book meet the requirements of international and domestic business?
That is the position. The appointee is to have a full round of discussions. I have no definite date for the launch of this project but all efforts are being made to meet the June date and then to look at the pre-1922 legislation and other issues. Other work is also being examined. It is important to see how best the process of identification of pre-1922 material can be carried out. There is a great deal of work involved and the new official is currently examining how to do that.
Will the Taoiseach ensure that the problems associated with the launch of the first phase of this project, particularly those of supply given there was an excessive demand relative to the small number produced, will not arise again and that a substantial number of CD-ROMs will be printed and made available?
I responded to this in a reply given a few weeks ago. The demand was much higher than anticipated but I have asked for this to be taken into account. To date, more than 4,000 copies have been sold.
Will the pre-1922 statutes be displayed on the Internet?
That is the intention. I will certainly mention that to those responsible.
Questions Nos. 21 to 47, inclusive, are related and will be taken together. Is that agreed?
This group of questions relates to European meetings.
There is very little time left to deal with them. How much time is left?
There are five minutes remaining.
I propose that we take Question No. 34 and defer Questions Nos. 21 to 33. Question No. 34 is a separate question dealing with Latin America.
I have all of them grouped together.
Question No. 34 is included in the group.
Could they all be postponed?
Questions Nos. 21 to 47, inclusive, postponed by agreement.
