Press release
Government Makes Significant Progress on Legislation Programme During Dáil Term
From Department of the Taoiseach
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of the Taoiseach
Published on
Last updated on
Issued by the Government Press Office
Seán Kyne TD, Government Chief Whip and Minister of State at the Department of Taoiseach has said that the Government has made significant progress on its legislation programme during this Dáil term.
Minister Kyne confirmed that during the January – July term of this year the Dáil passed 34 bills on a wide range of matters including laws concerning local government, data sharing, fisheries, parental leave, tenancies, airport regulation, copyright, oversight of the health service as well as industrial relations, among other issues.
Commented Minster Kyne:
“During this Dáil term a significant number of bills were passed following a comprehensive process of drafting, debate and scrutiny. The Dáil term included one of the most challenging and significant acts to be drafted and passed by the Oireachtas – the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union Act, commonly known as the Brexit Omnibus Act.
“Despite this challenge, the Government, working with other parties and groups, guided 34 bills through the Dáil, demonstrating that the new Dáil procedures and arrangements can work and are working.
“We published 11 bills from our Priority List and a further eight are complete and will be considered by the Cabinet by the end of the month.”
The bills passed by the Dáil include legislation to:
“Regarding the Official Languages Amendment Bill,” Minister Kyne continued, “good progress has been made on the revision of the drafts of this important bill. As Minister for the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Islands, this bill, which will improve the original Official Languages Act, is a priority of mine and I expect to publish it before the end of the summer.
“Finally, I would like to thank the staff of the Chief Whip’s Office, the Department of Taoiseach, the Office of Parliamentary Counsel and the Office of the Attorney General for their work over the Dáil term in shaping and progressing legislation which benefits citizens across our country.”
Number 1 of 2019: Local Government Act 2019
An Act to provide for the transfer of part of the administrative area of the council of the county of Cork to the administrative area of the council of the city of Cork; to provide for the holding of plebiscites by certain local authorities on the question as to whether or not the cathaoirligh of those local authorities should be elected to such positions by the electors of the administrative areas of those local authorities and the question as to whether or not certain functions of the chief executives of those local authorities should be transferred to those cathaoirligh; for those and other purposes to amend the Local Government Act 1991 , the Local Government Act 2001 , the Valuation Act 2001 , the Official Languages Act 2003 and certain other enactments; and to provide for matters connected therewith.
Number 2 of 2019: Hallmarking (Amendment) Act 2019
An Act to amend and extend the law relating to the assaying and hallmarking of articles of precious metal; to make provision for the assaying and hallmarking in certain circumstances of articles of precious metal outside the State; and, for those purposes, to amend the Hallmarking Act 1981 ; and to provide for related matters.
Number 3 of 2019: Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment) Act 2019
An Act to amend and extend the Personal Injuries Assessment Board Act 2003; and to provide for related matters.
Number 4 of 2019: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) (Amendment) Act 2019
An Act to amend the Punishment of Incest Act 1908 and the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017 ; and to provide for related matters.
Number 5 of 2019: Data Sharing And Governance Act 2019
An Act to provide for the regulation of the sharing of information, including personal data, between public bodies; to provide for the regulation of the management of information by public bodies; to provide for the establishment of base registries; to provide for the collection of public service information; to establish the Data Governance Board; to amend the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 ; to amend the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 ; to amend the Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Act 2011 ; to amend the National Shared Services Office Act 2017 ; and to provide for related matters.
Number 6 of 2019: Criminal Law (Extraterritorial Jurisdiction) Act 2019
An Act to extend the criminal law of the State to certain conduct engaged in outside the State and in that regard to give effect to certain provisions of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence done at Istanbul on 11 May 2011; for that purpose to amend the Criminal Justice (Mutual Assistance) Act 2008 ; and to provide for related matters.
Number 7 of 2019: European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Act 2019
An Act to give effect to European Council Decision (EU) 2018/937 of 28 June 20181 establishing the composition of the European Parliament and Council Decision (EU, Euratom) 2018/994 of 13 July 20182 amending the Act concerning the election of the members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage, annexed to Council Decision 76/787/ECSC, EEC, Euratom of 20 September 1976 and, for that purpose, to revise the European Parliament constituencies; to provide for the number of members to be elected for such constituencies; to amend the European Parliament Elections Act 1997; to amend the Electoral Act 1992; and to provide for related matters.
Number 8 of 2019: Withdrawal Of The United Kingdom From The European Union (Consequential Provisions) Act 2019
An Act to make provision for certain matters consequent on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from membership of the European Union.
Number 9 of 2019: Sea-Fisheries (Amendment) Act 2019
An Act to amend section 10 of the Sea-Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Act 2006 and to provide for related matters.
Number 10 of 2019: Companies (Amendment) Act 2019
An Act to amend section 343 of the Companies Act 2014; and to provide for related matters.
Number 11 of 2019: Parental Leave (Amendment) Act 2019
An Act to amend and extend the Parental Leave Act 1998.
Number 12 of 2019: Aircraft Noise (Dublin Airport) Regulation Act 2019
An Act for the purposes of giving further effect to the Aircraft Noise Regulation in so far as it relates to Dublin Airport and to make additional provision for the regulation of aircraft noise at Dublin Airport; for those purposes, to amend the Planning and Development Act 2000 to cater for the situation where development at Dublin Airport may give rise to an aircraft noise problem; and to provide for related matters.
Number 13 of 2019: Civil Registration Act 2019
An Act to amend the Civil Registration Act 2004; to amend the Civil Registration (Amendment) Act 2014; to amend the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015; and to provide for related matters.
Number 14 of 2019: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2019
An Act to amend the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004 to 2016; to provide for powers to carry out investigations of landlords and impose administrative sanctions; to provide for offences in relation to non-compliance with rent increase restrictions in rent pressure zones; to increase the notice periods to be provided in the case of termination of a tenancy by a landlord; to provide for annual registration by landlords of tenancies and to amend the registration process; to provide for mandatory publication of determination orders by the Residential Tenancies Board; to provide that the letting of a house or part thereof for any period not exceeding 14 days in a rent pressure zone is a material change in the use of the house or part and for that purpose to amend the Planning and Development Act 2000; and to provide for related matters.
Number 15 of 2019: Greyhound Racing Act 2019
An Act to amend and extend the Greyhound Industry Acts 1958 and 1993, the Welfare of Greyhounds Act 2011, the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013; to change the name of Bord na gCon and to provide for related matters.
Number 16 of 2019: Health And Social Care Professionals (Amendment) Act 2019
An Act to amend the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 to provide for the recognition of certain professional qualifications as approved qualifications within the meaning of section 38 of that Act; and to provide for related matters.
Number 17 of 2019: Health Service Executive (Governance) Act 2019
An Act to amend the Health Act 2004 to provide that the Health Service Executive shall be governed by a board and not a directorate, to provide that the Executive shall have a chief executive officer accountable to that board and to provide for certain other amendments to that Act; to provide for the amendment of certain other enactments; and to provide for related matters.
Number 18 of 2019: National Surplus (Reserve Fund for Exceptional Contingencies) Act 2019
An Act to establish a fund to be known as the National Surplus (Exceptional Contingencies) Reserve Fund for the purpose of the assets and sums hereafter mentioned of the fund being available to be drawn upon only in defined circumstances, being circumstances that involve certain contingencies of an exceptional nature; to provide for the transfer of certain assets and sums to the fund; to provide for the management and control of the fund; to amend the National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Act 2014; and to provide for related matters.
Number 19 of 2019: Copyright and Other Intellectual Property Law Provisions Act 2019
An Act to amend the Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000 to take account of certain recommendations for amendments to that Act contained in the Report of the Copyright Review Committee entitled “Modernising Copyright” published by that Committee in October 2013 and also to take account of certain exceptions to copyright permitted by Directive 2001/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 20011on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society; to make certain other amendments to that Act, including amendments in relation to references in that Act to education and fines; to make consequential amendments to The Courts of Justice Act 1924, the Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act 1961, the Patents Act 1992, the Trade Marks Act 1996 and the Industrial Designs Act 2001; to make a certain amendment to the Patents Act 1992; to make amendments to the Patents Act 1992 and the Trade Marks Act 1996 in relation to references in those Acts to courtsand fines; and to provide for related matters.
Number 20 of 2019: Criminal Justice (Mutual Recognition of Probation Judgements and Decisions) Act 2019
An Act to give effect to Council Framework Decision 2008/947/JHA of 27 November 2008 on the application of the principle of mutual recognition to judgments and probation decisions with a view to the supervision of probation measures and alternative sanctions, as amended by Council Framework Decision 2009/299/JHA of 26 February 2009 amending Framework Decisions 2002/584/JHA, 2005/214/JHA, 2006/783/JHA, 2008/909/JHA and 2008/947/JHA, thereby enhancing the procedural rights of persons and fostering the application of the principle of mutual recognition to decisions rendered in the absence of the person concerned at the trial; and to provide for related matters.
Number 21 of 2019: Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2019
An Act to amend the Industrial Relations Act 1990 in order to provide for the application of certain provisions of the Industrial Relations Acts 1946 to 2015 to certain members of the Garda Síochána; and to provide for related matters.
Number 22 of 2019: Land and Conveyancing Law Reform (Amendment) Act 2019
An Act to amend the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2013 to provide for the procedure to be followed in certain legal proceedings to which section 2 of that Act applies; and to provide for related matters.
Number 23 of 2019: Civil Law (Presumption of Death) Act 2019
An Act to provide for the civil status of a missing person where the circumstances of his or her absence leads to a presumption of death; and to provide for related matters.
24. Constitutional Amendment: Thirty-Eighth Amendment Of The Constitution (Dissolution Of Marriage) Act 2019
An Act to amend Article 41 of the Constitution.
25. Coroners (Amendment) Bill 2018
26. Redress for Women Resident in Certain Institutions (Amendment) Bill 2019
27. CervicalCheck Tribunal Bill 2019
28. Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) (Amendment) Bill 2018
29. Criminal Justice (International Co-operation) Bill 2019
30. Citizens’ Assemblies Bill 2019
31. Courts (Establishment and Constitution) (Amendment) Bill 2019
32. Local Government Rates and Other Matters Bill 2018
33. Judicial Council Bill 2017
34. Parole Bill 2016