Bills
359 bills tracked. What do the stages mean?
Garda Síochána (Amendment) Bill 2017
13 Feb 2020 Second Stage Lapsed Jim O'Callaghan
- Expands Policing Authority's oversight powers to monitor Garda Commissioner and police service performance.
- Amends Garda Síochána Inspectorate provisions; specific changes not detailed in title provided.
- Bill lapsed before completion; final scope and related provisions unknown.
Sale of Illicit Goods Bill 2017
13 Feb 2020 Second Stage Lapsed John Lahart
- Makes it an offence to buy illicit alcohol, tobacco, or solid fuel if you knew or should have known taxes weren't paid or goods were counterfeit.
- Makes it an offence to buy alcohol, tobacco, or solid fuel from unregistered or unlicensed retailers, with €100 on-the-spot fines issued initially.
- Establishes criminal penalties: class B fine (€4,000) or up to 6 months jail for first offence; class A fine (€5,000) or up to 12 months for repeat offences.
Medical Practitioners (Amendment) Bill 2017
13 Feb 2020 Second Stage Lapsed Billy Kelleher
- Requires doctors to declare annually to the Medical Council any income or gifts received from medical suppliers or pharmaceutical companies.
- Declarations must be made in statutory form; no thresholds or exemption amounts specified in long title.
- Bill lapsed; did not proceed beyond Second Stage debate in 2017.
Civil Liability (Amendment) (Prevention of Benefits from Homicide) Bill 2017
13 Feb 2020 Second Stage Lapsed Jim O'Callaghan
- Prevents people convicted of homicide from inheriting from or claiming benefits from their victim's estate.
- Amends succession law so killers cannot profit financially from causing someone's death through inheritance or legal claims.
- Applies the legal principle that wrongdoing should not create financial advantage, protecting victims' families from this harm.
Pensions (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2017
13 Feb 2020 Second Stage Lapsed Willie Penrose
- Amends Pensions Act 1990 to make solvent employers liable for pension scheme funding deficits when winding up defined benefit schemes, treating unpaid amounts as contractual debt to scheme trustees.
- Prevents employers from removing pension liabilities from their financial accounts without fully funding scheme deficits, closing a loophole allowing companies to avoid obligations.
- Applies to defined benefit schemes operating before the Act commences; does not affect other legal remedies available to pension trustees for scheme shortfalls.
Pensions (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2017
13 Feb 2020 Second Stage Lapsed Willie O'Dea
- Amends the Pensions Act 1990 to create an appeals process when pension scheme trustees decide to wind up a scheme.
- Gives scheme members a mechanism to challenge or appeal the trustees' decision to wind up their pension scheme.
- Bill lapsed and did not become law; information about specific appeal procedures or timeframes is not available from the long title.
Prohibition of Above-cost Ticket Touting Bill 2017
13 Feb 2020 Second Stage Lapsed Stephen Donnelly
- Makes it illegal to sell tickets for major sporting, musical, or theatrical events above their official price.
- Applies to anyone selling or offering tickets for resale at above face value.
- Bill lapsed during Second Stage; did not become law.
National Famine Commemoration Day Bill 2017
13 Feb 2020 Second Stage Lapsed Colm Brophy
- Creates a National Famine Commemoration Day to officially remember the Great Famine and its impact.
- Establishes formal commemorative arrangements, though bill lapsed before becoming law.
- Scope and specific date for commemoration not detailed in long title alone.
University College Galway (Amendment) Bill 2017
13 Feb 2020 Second Stage Lapsed Éamon Ó Cuív
- Cancels the 2006 amendment to the University College Galway Act 1929, reversing changes made that year.
- Makes new amendments to the original 1929 Act governing University College Galway's structure or operations. Specific changes not detailed in title.
- Bill did not complete enactment; it lapsed without becoming law.
Public Services and Procurement (Social Value) Bill 2017
13 Feb 2020 Second Stage Lapsed Frank O'Rourke
- Public bodies can consider economic, social, and environmental benefits when awarding service contracts, not just price.
- Aims to help small and medium businesses compete more fairly for public procurement tenders.
- Bill lapsed during legislative process; did not become law.
Ethical Public Investment (Tobacco) Bill 2017
13 Feb 2020 Second Stage Lapsed Sean Fleming
- Bans public money investment in tobacco company stocks and bonds, directly or indirectly.
- Affects government, state bodies, and pension funds holding tobacco securities.
- Bill lapsed without becoming law; status as of 2017.
Famine Memorial Day Bill 2016
13 Feb 2020 Second Stage Lapsed Peadar Tóibín
- Establishes an annual Famine Memorial Day held on the same date each year to commemorate the Irish Famine.
- Does not specify which date the memorial day falls on; bill lapsed before details were finalised.
- Bill did not progress beyond Second Stage debate; no legislation currently requires annual Famine Memorial Day observance.
Employment Equality (Abolition of Mandatory Retirement Age) Bill 2016
13 Feb 2020 Second Stage Lapsed John Brady
- Amends Employment Equality Act 1998 to remove mandatory retirement age requirements for employees.
- Allows workers to continue employment beyond current mandatory retirement thresholds unless employer has justified grounds.
- Bill lapsed in Oireachtas; did not progress beyond Second Stage to become law.
Prisons (Solitary Confinement) (Amendment) Bill 2016
13 Feb 2020 Second Stage Lapsed Clare Daly
- Amends the Prisons Act 2007 to create specific rules governing solitary confinement use in Irish prisons.
- Exact provisions unclear from title alone; Bill lapsed before completion, so changes never became law.
- Sponsored by Clare Daly; did not progress past Second Stage debate in the Oireachtas.
Residential Institutions Statutory Fund (Amendment) Bill 2016
13 Feb 2020 Second Stage Lapsed Clare Daly
- Expands approved services available to former residents of residential institutions under the 2012 Fund Act.
- Improves application processing efficiency for former residents seeking support or compensation.
- Removes requirement to establish a special bank account in the Minister for Health's name.
Local Government Reform (Amendment) (Directly Elected Mayor of Dublin) Bill 2016
13 Feb 2020 Second Stage Lapsed John Lahart
- Allows Dublin residents to vote on whether to directly elect a mayor instead of the current council-appointed system.
- Establishes process for holding a public referendum on direct mayoral election and related governance changes.
- Bill lapsed without becoming law; did not progress beyond parliamentary Second Stage debate.
Health and Social Care Professionals (Amendment) Bill 2016
13 Feb 2020 Second Stage Lapsed Brendan Howlin
- Adds 'crisis pregnancy counsellor' to the list of regulated health and social care professions under the 2005 Act, making statutory registration mandatory.
- Only registered crisis pregnancy counsellors may use that title; false claims face €3,000 fine and/or six months' imprisonment.
- Extends public protection system to crisis pregnancy counselling by requiring competence verification, fitness-to-practise oversight, and complaint determination.
Criminal Justice (Aggravation by Prejudice) Bill 2016
13 Feb 2020 Second Stage Lapsed Fiona O'Loughlin
- Courts must treat crimes more seriously if motivated by prejudice based on race, colour, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, or transgender identity.
- Judges can impose harsher sentences when evidence shows an offence was aggravated by such prejudice at the time of commission.
- Bill lapsed before completion; never became law. Would have required courts to consider prejudice-based motivation during sentencing.
Cannabis for Medicinal Use Regulation Bill 2016
13 Feb 2020 Second Stage Lapsed Bríd Smith
- Creates Cannabis Regulation Authority to oversee medicinal cannabis supply through licensing system.
- Allows regulated production and distribution of cannabis for medical purposes under government oversight.
- Bill did not progress beyond Second Stage debate; current status unknown without recent legislative updates.
Nursing Home Support Scheme (Amendment) Bill 2016
13 Feb 2020 Second Stage Lapsed Willie O'Dea
- Lets eligible nursing home residents receive home care instead if suitable services exist and cost the State less.
- Applies when long-term residential care is offered but home-based alternatives are available and cheaper.
- Bill did not progress beyond Second Stage debate; status is lapsed.
Housing (Sale of Local Authority Housing) Bill 2016
13 Feb 2020 Second Stage Lapsed Barry Cowen
- Allows housing authorities to sell homes to tenants who rented them under Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000.
- Part V requires developers to provide affordable housing; this bill lets authorities sell those homes to current tenants.
- Bill lapsed at Second Stage; not enacted into law.
Equal Status (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016
13 Feb 2020 Second Stage Lapsed Brendan Howlin
- Amends Equal Status Act 2000 to require state-funded denominational schools prove religious preference in admissions is 'essential' to ensure reasonable access for their own faith community, not merely preferred.
- Adds constitutional safeguard: courts must consider children's right to attend publicly-funded schools without mandatory religious instruction when assessing if schools' admission policies are 'essential'.
- Applies 'necessity test' to preferential admissions policies, shifting legal burden so schools cannot use blanket co-religionist preference without demonstrating actual threat to their religious character.
Banded Hours Contract Bill 2016
13 Feb 2020 Second Stage Lapsed David Cullinane
- Workers can request more hours; employers must consider requests and can only refuse for objective reasons.
- Employers must tell workers about total available hours in the workplace to improve transparency.
- Creates 'banded hours contracts' — employment agreements with defined hour ranges rather than fixed schedules.