The government is planning to repeal old, irrelevant and unnecessary laws which in some cases are snarling up bureaucracy, the prime minister said this morning.

An eight-month exercise identified 36 principal laws and 116 legal notices that will be repealed because they no longer make sense, he told a presentation before permanent secretaries and other officials..

The last time a similar but less intensive exercise was made was in 1977.

The move will cut bureaucracy that has shackled public administration and burdened taxpayers with unnecessary costs, according to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat.

"This was a meticulous exercise but efficiency should not just be reflected at the legal level only but also all across public administration," Dr Muscat said.

He said changes to the tendering process have also been simplified for tenders up to the value of €15 million, making it possible for more companies to compete.

"Time is precious and scarce," Dr Muscat added, saying the government was committed to simplify bureaucracy.

The government was also working on the inclusion of sunset clauses to laws that would ensure certain legislation had a best before date.

The statute book has 536 laws enacted over a 200-year period.

Among the laws to be repealed are the Coal Ordinance, Cereals Ordinance, Tobacco Growing Ordinance and the wartime Distribution of German Property Ordinance and a  number of legal notices related to the issue of government bonds and a legal notice on rationing of animal food stuffs.

COLA WILL NOT BE TOUCHED

The prime minister reiterated comments he made yesterday that the government would not touch the cost of living adjustment mechanism (COLA) without agreement among the social partners.

He said that while the mechanism provided for a 58c increase in the Budget, and that would stay, the government would find other means to help low income earners.