LEGISLATION TO GIVE tenants first right of refusal to purchase a property when it is put forward for sale by their landlord is on the priority list for Government this summer term.
Opposition had criticised Government for not having the measure in place by the time the eviction ban was lifted earlier this month, however, the aim is to have the legislation passed by the time the Dáíl rises in July.
As the summer Dáil terms begins, Government Chief Whip Minister Hildegarde Naughton published the items that are top of the agenda in the coming months.
There are 19 pieces of legislation for priority publication this session, and 20 pieces of legislation for priority drafting list.
So, what stands out on that priority list, published at the start of this term?
Speaking to just some of the Bills listed for publication, Naughton said “this term the Department of Health, through the Safe Access Zones Bill, will be putting a particular focus on finalising legislation to ensure safe access to premises at which termination of pregnancy services may be provided”.
The Health (Termination of Pregnancy Services (Safe Access Zones) Bill aims to ensure safe access to premises at which termination of pregnancy services may be provided.
The heads of the Bill were approved on 27 July 2022, and pre-legislative scrutiny is ongoing.
Separately, Naughton said she looks forward to publishing the Public Health (Tobacco and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill in the very near future which will ban the sale of e-cigarettes to children.
The new law will introduce a licensing system for the sale of tobacco and nicotine inhaling products, including e-cigarettes, as well as a prohibition on the sale of nicotine inhaling products such as e-cigarettes to and by minors.
The Government will also need to get the Energy (Windfall Gains in Energy Sector) Bill through so as to use the money from the windfall tax on energy companies in this year’s budget.
The aim is to use the money collected and feed it back into people’s pockets, though the details as to how this will be done have yet to be laid out.
A new law to allow for a directly elected mayor for Limerick City and County will also be published this term.
The overhaul of Ireland’s planning legislation will also move a step forward with the Planning and Development Bill, which aims to improve and speed up housing construction.
The Government will also publish the Civil Service Regulation (Amendment) Bill To provide that serious disciplinary action up to and including dismissal in the civil service can be assigned below the level of the head of the organisation.
The ticking time bomb of Irish pensions will also be dealt with through the new auto enrolment pension system that will be underpinned by the Automatic Enrolment Retirement Saving System Bill.
The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth recently convened an inter-departmental committee with a view to ultimately agreeing the wording of a referendum that would enshrine gender equality in our constitution and remove the reference to ‘women in the home’.
This term will also see the publication of the Domestic, Sexual and Gender Based Violence Agency Bill by the Department of Justice.
This bill will establish an agency with responsibility for coordinating Government actions to tackle Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence, including the delivery of services to victims and increasing the availability of emergency accommodation.
Of the 20 pieces of legislation that are on the priority drafting list this term is the law to ban conversion therapy.
The Prohibition of Conversion Practices Bill will prohibit conversion therapy and practices in Ireland.
Legislation to reform Ireland’s defamation laws will also be drafted as will the Sale of Alcohol Bill. This seeks to change the licencing system and allow for late-night openings of nightclubs, which the minister had indicated should be in place by this summer.
A separate piece of legislation is to be drafted to give supports to survivors of abuse in residential institutions and to provide for the dissolution of the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Board known as Caranua.
With Fine Gael TD Helen McEntee still on maternity leave, using the Government’s ad hoc system whereby Simon Harris took over the role, the Government will finally move to draft the Maternity leave for Members of the Oireachtas Bill 2023.
During the pandemic, there was much discussion about the nature in which Ireland’s nursing home system operates.
The Health (Amendment No.2) Bill aims to provide regulatory enhancements to the Health Act 2007 which deals with the governance and oversight of nursing homes and other designated centres.
Government has given priority drafting to the much-delayed Mental Health Bill which seeks to amend the Mental Health Act 2001. This will give effect to recommendations of an Expert Group Review on mental health legislation made eight years ago in which recommended 165 changes to the law.
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