The Taoiseach yesterday announced a two-month public consultation programme on Government plans to make legislation more readable and user- friendly.
The Government is committed to a programme of updating existing Acts and simplifying statute law, to be carried out by the Law Reform Commission. The Government will shortly place adverts in national newspapers telling the public how to submit observations on current law.
This process, the Statute Law Restatement Programme, will update Acts of the Oireachtas, incorporate changes made by subsequent Acts or statutory instruments and present the results in "one easy to read format", a Government statement said yesterday.
The changes are merely to wording and presentation and would not change the effect of existing law, the statement said.
In Dublin yesterday at the Public Affairs Ireland Conference, Mr Ahern said the consultation process would be important in deciding which laws would be "restated" first.
"Government needs to be alert to our changing environment, and that often means updating existing legislation," Mr Ahern said. "However, in some cases it has been necessary to amend Acts several times, usually over a number of years and in a variety of ways.
"This can make it difficult for both lawyers and members of the public to keep abreast of the current provisions of particular legislation. One way to make these laws more accessible is to issue consolidated or 'restated' texts, which incorporate every change into one readable and easy to use format."
He said the Government would have to decide which laws had the greatest impact on citizens and business in order to decide which should be modernised first. "We are looking for the views of the public, legal practitioners and any other interested party on which laws they consider most suitable for restatement."