Bills
1,078 bills tracked. What do the stages mean?
Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2022
11 Sep 2024 Enacted
- Transfers specialist community-based disability services policy and funding responsibility from Minister for Health to Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth; HSE continues delivering services but reports to both Ministers.
- Establishes new governance and accountability structures: both Ministers can issue directions, approve plans, set budgets, and appoint board members for their respective functions; requires joint consultation on shared decisions.
- Amends Disability Act 2005 and Health Act 2007: Minister for Children gains power to prepare sectoral disability plans and direct health quality investigations for disability services.
Competition (Amendment) Bill 2022
11 Sep 2024 Enacted
- Introduces independent adjudication officers to enforce competition law through non-criminal sanctions, including financial penalties and structural remedies, appealable to the High Court.
- Increases criminal penalties for competition law breaches requiring intentional or reckless conduct; expands CCPC surveillance powers for investigating economic crime.
- Requires notification of below-threshold mergers affecting Irish competition; permits CCPC to unwind completed mergers and void those breaching notification requirements.
Electricity Costs (Domestic Electricity Accounts) Emergency Measures Bill 2022
11 Sep 2024 Enacted
- Establishes one-off electricity payment scheme delivering €100 to each domestic electricity account in 2022, funded up to €215 million.
- Requires distribution system operator and suppliers to administer payments; grants CRU oversight functions to ensure scheme operates properly.
- Exempts emergency benefit payments from income tax; enables Minister to set payment dates and operational rules by regulation.
Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022
11 Sep 2024 Enacted
- Replaces Broadcasting Authority of Ireland with new Coimisiún na Meán regulator with expanded powers to regulate broadcasting, audiovisual on-demand services, and online safety.
- Establishes regulatory framework for online safety: Commission makes binding codes for designated online services covering harmful content; enforces via investigation, content removal notices, and financial sanctions up to €20 million or 10% turnover.
- Commission funds community broadcasters' journalism through 7% of licence fees and European works production through levies on media service providers.
Payment of Wages (Amendment) (Tips and Gratuities) Bill 2022
11 Sep 2024 Enacted
- Employers must distribute electronic tips fairly and transparently, cannot retain employee tips except where they perform substantial work, and must provide written statements within 10 days showing amounts distributed.
- Employers prohibited from deducting tips or gratuities from wages except as required by law or to cover electronic payment costs; must consult employees before changing tip distribution policies.
- Employers must display tips and gratuities policy prominently; new employees must receive statement of employer's policy on tips within 5 days of starting work.
Redundancy Payments (Amendment) Bill 2022
11 Sep 2024 Enacted
- Employees laid off due to Covid-19 restrictions (March 2020–September 2021) who later become redundant receive a compensatory payment from the Social Insurance Fund equal to their lost redundancy entitlement.
- Employers must apply for the payment; if they refuse, employees can apply directly. Deciding officers assess eligibility and the Minister authorizes payment within 3 years of the emergency period ending.
- The payment equals the difference between the redundancy lump sum an employee would have received without lay-off and what they actually receive due to the lay-off period.
Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022
11 Sep 2024 Enacted
- Allows adopted persons and those with incorrect birth registrations to access their birth certificates, birth information, and early life records from age 16; those aged 18+ can also access full care and medical information.
- Establishes statutory tracing service through Tusla and Adoption Authority to locate and facilitate contact between persons seeking information about their origins and biological relatives.
- Creates Contact Preference Register allowing parents and relatives to record contact preferences; amends Civil Registration Act 2004 to enable people with incorrect registrations to use their preferred identity legally.
Regulation of Providers of Building Works and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022
11 Sep 2024 Enacted
- Creates Construction Industry Register Ireland to register and regulate building works providers; government appoints registration body to assess competence, set standards, investigate complaints, and impose sanctions.
- Registered providers must demonstrate relevant qualifications or practical experience, maintain public liability insurance, comply with continuing professional development, and notify material changes to registration body.
- Establishes appeals process: complaints investigated by inspectors; Board determines sanctions (removal, suspension, or division restrictions); appeals go to Appeals Committee then High Court for major sanctions.
Higher Education Authority Bill 2022
11 Sep 2024 Enacted
- Repeals the 1971 Higher Education Authority Act and establishes new legal framework for HEA's functions in regulating higher education institutions and planning the sector.
- Creates HEA Board of 12 members (appointed by Minister) with powers to oversee institutional governance, funding accountability, and performance measurement of designated higher education providers.
- Requires HEA to prepare three-year corporate plans and annual plans aligned with tertiary education strategy, and mandates institutional compliance with governance frameworks and funding accountability requirements.
Appropriation Bill 2021
11 Sep 2024 Enacted
- Authorizes spending amounts voted by Parliament in 2021 Estimates and Supplementary Estimates, covering both current and capital supply services.
- Defers capital spending of unspent 2021 amounts into 2022 budget year, as permitted under Finance Act 2004.
- Allows temporary loans from Central Fund to Paymaster General's account to cover payments between 1–5 January 2022, repayable same month.
Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2021
11 Sep 2024 Enacted
- Revises risk equalisation credits paid from the Fund to health insurers from 1 April 2022 for insuring older and less healthy members, with corresponding stamp duty levy adjustments to fund these credits.
- Introduces high cost claims credit to the Risk Equalisation Scheme, allowing insurers to claim compensation for individual high-cost claims above specified thresholds, strengthening health status measurement.
- Adds a time limit for claiming risk equalisation credits and adjusts the benchmark for assessing insurer overcompensation; amends Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999 to set new duty rates from 1 April 2022.
Health and Criminal Justice (Covid-19) (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021
11 Sep 2024 Enacted
- Extends four Covid-19 emergency Acts to 31 March 2022: Health (Preservation and Protection) Act 2020 Part 3, Criminal Justice (Enforcement Powers) Act 2020, Health (Amendment) Act 2020, and Health (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 2021.
- Allows Oireachtas to further extend these provisions by resolution for up to three additional months beyond 31 March 2022.
- Gives Government continued access to emergency measures to respond to Covid-19 spread and variants while vaccination programme continues.
Health (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2021
11 Sep 2024 Enacted
- Amends Health Act 1947 to require mandatory quarantine in designated facilities for travellers from high-risk countries or those without pre-travel tests, for up to 14 days.
- Minister designates high-risk countries and quarantine facilities; travellers must pre-book and present themselves on arrival or face detention by gardaí.
- Quarantine costs charged to travellers as recoverable debt; appeals officer can review cases within 24 hours; exemptions available for asylum seekers and unaccompanied children.
Social Welfare Bill 2021
11 Sep 2024 Enacted
- Increases weekly rates of pensions, benefits and allowances by €5 per week, plus proportionate increases for qualified adult dependants, from January 2022 onwards.
- Raises employer PRSI threshold from €398 to €410 weekly earnings and extends parent's benefit duration from five to seven weeks under EU Work Life Balance Directive.
- Extends COVID-19 Credit Guarantee Scheme end date to 31 December 2022 and introduces €500 grant for wigs/hairpieces for illness-related hair loss.
Houses of the Oireachtas Commission (Amendment) Bill 2021
11 Sep 2024 Enacted
- Amends Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Act 2003 to authorize funding of €462.5 million for the Commission's three-year operating period from 1 January 2022.
- Continues direct financing from the Central Fund rather than annual Dáil votes on estimates, as established in 2004.
- Enables Commission to pay staff salaries and expenses, with Minister consent required for senior appointments.
Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021
11 Sep 2024 Enacted
- Rent increases in Rent Pressure Zones capped at 2% per annum (down from general inflation rate); review of this cap required within 15 months.
- New tenancies starting 6+ months after enactment automatically become unlimited-duration after 6 months; landlords can only terminate on limited grounds.
- Temporary waiver of annual registration fees for further Part 4 tenancies registered before mandatory annual registration begins (expected Q1 2022).
Sex Offenders (Amendment) Bill 2021
11 Sep 2024 Enacted
- Reduces sex offender notification period from 7 to 3 days; allows Gardaí to take fingerprints, palm prints and photographs for identity confirmation.
- Permits Gardaí to disclose offender information to police outside State and publish details where offender's whereabouts unknown, to manage public safety risks.
- Enables courts to impose electronic monitoring on sex offenders and ban them from working with children; allows Gardaí to apply for order discharge or variation.
Merchant Shipping (Investigation of Marine Casualties) (Amendment) Bill 2021
11 Sep 2024 Enacted
- Changes Marine Casualty Investigation Board composition to 5-7 members (from fixed number); limits tenure to initial 5-year period plus one reappointment; removes age threshold.
- Requires persons involved in marine casualties to notify both the Marine Casualty Investigation Board and the Marine Survey Office of the Department of Transport.
- Updates definition of 'Safety Convention' to include International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea amendments through May 2018 Maritime Safety Committee session.
Planning and Development (Amendment) (Large-scale Residential Development) Bill 2021
11 Sep 2024 Enacted
- Replaces Strategic Housing Development process with new Large-scale Residential Development process, requiring mandatory pre-application consultation and planning authority opinion before formal application submission.
- Sets mandatory 16-week decision timeframe for appeals with no oral hearing; imposes €10,000 penalty if An Bord Pleanála exceeds deadline.
- Allows any planning appeal party to apply directly to Supreme Court, bypassing Court of Appeal, to reduce litigation timescale.
Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Bill 2021
11 Sep 2024 Enacted
- Repeals sections 33-39 of the 2009 Act, removing the 30 November 2021 deadline for registering prescriptive easements and profits à prendre under new legal rules.
- Claims after the Bill's enactment will be decided under pre-2009 judge-made law ('doctrine of lost modern grant'), reverting from mandatory to optional registration with the Property Registration Authority.
- Longer prescription periods (30 years for State land, 60 years for foreshore) still apply to claims against State-owned land, while pending applications remain unaffected by these changes.
Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021
11 Sep 2024 Enacted
- Prohibits breeding and keeping specified animals solely for fur or skin; makes fur farming an offence punishable by fine up to €250,000 and/or five years imprisonment.
- Establishes compensation scheme for three active mink farms: covers income loss, non-income loss, redundancy, demolition, and disposal costs, determined by independent assessor with High Court appeal.
- Repeals Part 12 of Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013 (animal mart licensing); enables Minister to license livestock marts by regulation for animal health and welfare purposes.
Finance Bill 2021
11 Sep 2024 Enacted
- Increases Universal Social Charge threshold from €20,687 to €21,295 for 2022; extends reduced USC rate for full medical card holders under 70 earning under €60,000 through 2022.
- Allows employees working from home to claim 30% of electricity, heating and broadband costs as tax deduction; extends enhanced Help to Buy relief to December 2022.
- Increases standard income tax band by €1,500; raises personal tax credit from €1,650 to €1,700 and married couples' credit from €3,300 to €3,400, effective January 2022.
Road Traffic and Roads Bill 2021
11 Sep 2024 Enacted
- Enables linking of driver licence and vehicle ownership records by requiring driver numbers or PPS numbers when applying for vehicle licences, helping gardaí identify drivers and assign penalty points correctly.
- Requires motor insurers to provide detailed policy information to a national database (MTPL) within 5 working days of policy issue, cancellation or amendment, to identify uninsured vehicles and disqualified drivers.
- Introduces legal framework for testing autonomous vehicles on public roads, powered personal transporters (e-scooters), e-bikes, and strengthens enforcement against dangerous scrambler use.
Property Services (Land Price Register) Bill 2021
11 Sep 2024 Second Stage Defeated Cian O'Callaghan
- Expands Residential Property Price Register to include property size and owner details for non-primary residences; makes it searchable electronically.
- Creates new Land and Other Non-Residential Transaction Database capturing land/property prices, ownership, location, zoning, and sale dates; publicly searchable.
- Broadens Commercial Leases Database to include lessor/lessee names and addresses; makes it electronically searchable.