The Government's Legislative Programme for the Autumn Session 2015 was recently published. With a total of 131 proposed new Bills, the Programme aims to further the Government's plan to secure economic recovery. An important feature of this is Budget 2016 which will be given effect to by the upcoming Finance Bill. The Programme also proposes other important pieces of legislation such as the Criminal Justice (Corruption) Bill and the Geothermal Energy Development Bill.
The Government has recently announced its Legislative Programme for the Autumn Session 2015. When announcing the programme, Government Chief Whip Paul Kehoe stated that the Programme includes a number of Bills which are central to the Government's plans to secure Ireland's ongoing economic recovery. The Programme includes 34 Bills, which the Government intends to publish in the coming months.
We have listed below the most significant legislation which is due to be published, either in the current Dáil session or in 2016.
Bills Expected to be Published in the Current Dáil Session
The current Dáil session is due to run until Christmas 2015.
| Criminal Justice (Corruption) Bill: | This Bill will consolidate and reform all the legislation currently cited as the Prevention of Corruption Acts 1889-2010 in a single statute. |
| Criminal Justice (Offences relating to Information Systems) Bill: | This Bill will enable ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime and the transposition of the EU Directive 2013/40 on attacks against Information Systems. |
| Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill: | This Bill will provide sanctioning powers to the Commission for Energy Regulation including the power to impose fines, to restate provisions of EU Regulations relating to energy market trading and to make some other energy legislation amendments and revocations. |
| Financial Services Miscellaneous Bill: | This Bill will ratify the Inter-Governmental Agreement to put in place an alternative insurance regulatory regime and to provide for transition of a Deposit Guarantee Scheme funding arrangement. |
| Public Sector Standards Bill: | This Bill will reform the existing legislative framework in relation to ethics regulation for those in public office. |
| Technological Universities Bill: | This Bill will provide for the establishment of technological universities and the amendment of the Institutes of Technology, Higher Education Authority and other Acts. |
Bills Expected to be Published in 2016
| Data Sharing and Governance Bill: | This Bill aims to implement measures to improve data-sharing and governance. |
| Geothermal Energy Development Bill: | This Bill aims to provide a legislative framework for the vesting, licensing and regulation of the development of geothermal energy. |
| Health Information and Patient Safety Bill: | This Bill aims to provide a legislative framework for the
better governance of health information, initiatives including data
matching, health information resources for use in the health
service and support for clinical audit and patient safety
notifications. It will also provide for the extension of the Health Information and Quality Authority's remit to private health service providers. |
| Landlord and Tenant Law Reform Bill: | This Bill aims to reform and consolidate the general law on landlords and tenants. |
| Gambling Control Bill: | This Bill aims to update and consolidate the law on betting and gambling. |
Comments
The publication of much of this legislation is eagerly awaited. We will continue to provide you with updates on the progress of these and other Bills through the Houses of the Oireachtas.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
