Bills
95 bills tracked. What do the stages mean?
River Shannon Management Agency Bill 2020
2 May 2025 Committee Stage Current Sorca Clarke
- Establishes a River Shannon Management Agency to coordinate flood risk management along the River Shannon, with powers to build and maintain drainage systems and conduct relevant works.
- Agency must coordinate with existing bodies like ESB and National Parks and Wildlife Service, and provide the Minister with a strategic flood management plan within three months of establishment.
- Agency can enter agreements with local authorities and other public bodies, report annually to the Minister, and receive ministerial guidelines to guide its flood management functions.
Judicial Council (Amendment) Bill 2021
2 May 2025 Committee Stage Current Pearse Doherty
- Requires insurance providers to report information to the Central Bank about how personal injuries guidelines affected their insurance claim costs and premiums.
- Minister for Finance can make regulations specifying what data insurers must provide, including actual versus expected claim amounts and premium changes.
- Central Bank must present annual reports to the Minister, who brings them before both Houses of the Oireachtas.
Residential Tenancies (Tenants' Rights) Bill 2021
2 May 2025 Committee Stage Current Ivana Bacik
- Extends landlord definition to include receivers and lienholders, ensuring tenants' rights protection when lenders repossess mortgaged rental properties.
- Removes landlord's right to terminate tenancies after 6 years without grounds and eliminates sale as termination ground, providing indefinite tenure security.
- Caps deposits at one month's rent, limits furnished-to-unfurnished conversion, restricts pet bans, and allows clothes-drying in gardens without landlord prohibition.
Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Bill 2024
2 May 2025 Committee Stage Current Mairéad Farrell
- This bill modifies the Residential Tenancies Act 2004, but the specific amendments aren't detailed in the provided information.
- The bill is sponsored by Mairéad Farrell and is currently at Committee Stage in the legislative process.
- Without access to the bill's text, the practical effects on tenants, landlords, or rental rules cannot be specified.
Companies (Protection of Employees’ Rights in Liquidations) Bill 2021
2 May 2025 Committee Stage Current Mick Barry
- Amends Companies Act 2014 to recognize redundancy payments agreed in collective agreements as creditor claims in company liquidations.
- Grants employees preferential creditor status in company liquidations, improving their position relative to other creditors.
- Protects employee entitlements under collective agreements during winding up of insolvent companies.
Irish Corporate Governance (Gender Balance) Bill 2021
2 May 2025 Committee Stage Current Emer Higgins
- Companies must report annually to the Companies Registration Office on boardroom gender balance and achieve 33% representation of each gender within one year, rising to 40% within three years.
- Companies can explain non-compliance under a 'comply and explain' model; the High Court may compel compliance if explanations are inadequate.
- Compliant companies may obtain a CRO certificate to demonstrate leadership on gender balance and attract talent.
Regulation of Lobbying (Post-Term Employment as Lobbyist) Bill 2020
2 May 2025 Committee Stage Current Ged Nash
- Amends the Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015 to make breaching the one-year cooling-off period for senior officials becoming lobbyists a 'relevant contravention,' enabling SIPO enforcement.
- Grants SIPO power to investigate cooling-off breaches via appointed officers who can request documents, access premises with consent or warrant, and maintain confidentiality.
- Makes cooling-off violations punishable by summary conviction (class C fine) or indictment (fine and/or up to 2 years imprisonment); reasonable steps defence available.
Commission for Future Generations Bill 2023
2 May 2025 Committee Stage Current Marc Ó Cathasaigh
- Establishes independent Commission for Future Generations to report within 12 months on creating an Office of Ombudsman for Future Generations to represent future generations' interests.
- Commission may recommend approaches to measuring societal well-being, sustainable development practices across public bodies, and a potential Joint Oireachtas Committee on Future Generations.
- Addresses gap in protecting future generations' interests by creating dedicated oversight body, modeled on Wales's Future Generations Commissioner framework.
Coercion of a Minor (Misuse of Drugs Amendment) Bill 2022
2 May 2025 Committee Stage Current Martin Kenny
- Creates new criminal offence: causing or coercing a minor to possess controlled drugs for sale or supply, regardless of quantity.
- Prosecution need not prove the substance was controlled or that defendant knew the person was a child.
- Maximum penalty: 10 years imprisonment and/or fine if tried in Circuit Court; triable in that court.
Children and Family Relationships (Amendment) Bill 2023
2 May 2025 Committee Stage Current Ivana Bacik
- Expands legal pathways to parentage for people with donor-conceived children born or conceived outside Ireland or outside fertility clinics, including those using known donors before 2015.
- Introduces 'best interests of child' principle into court decisions on parentage, allowing judicial discretion to grant parentage even where technical requirements aren't fully met.
- Grants Irish citizenship to all donor-conceived children through either parent; creates presumption of maternity for married same-sex female couples; removes age limits on parentage declarations.
Provision of Objective Sex Education Bill 2018
2 May 2025 Committee Stage Current Mick Barry
- Requires schools to provide factual, objective relationships and sexuality education regardless of school ethos or religious character.
- Aims to ensure all students access same evidence-based content, independent of school's distinctive values or mission.
- Bill at committee stage; specific curriculum content, implementation timeline, and exemption details not yet finalised in legislation.
Protection of Accident Victims from Non-Consensual Recording of Images Bill 2022
2 May 2025 Committee Stage Current Duncan Smith
- Makes it an offence to record or publish images of accident victims who are dead, seriously injured, or in shock without their consent, if this causes distress or interferes with privacy.
- Penalties are a class A fine or imprisonment up to 12 months or both. Exception: sharing images to get emergency help or by gardaí performing duties.
- Provides public interest defence if publication was justified by overriding public interest considerations and disclosure was not excessively intrusive into private life.
Proceeds of Crime (Gross Human Rights Abuses) Bill 2020
2 May 2025 Committee Stage Current Brendan Howlin
- Amends Proceeds of Crime Acts to treat foreign conduct as 'criminal conduct' if it constitutes gross human rights abuse, even if not illegal in the foreign state, enabling asset seizure.
- Defines gross human rights abuse as severe physical/mental suffering inflicted by public officials against those exposing illegal activity or promoting human rights, performed in official capacity.
- Applies retroactively to conduct and property obtained before or after the bill's passage, provided some property from the conduct is located in Ireland.
Planning and Development (Amendment) (Repeal of Part V Leasing) Bill 2021
2 May 2025 Committee Stage Current Cian O'Callaghan
- Repeals leasing provisions from Planning and Development Act 2000, requiring developers to provide affordable/social homes permanently rather than via lease arrangements.
- Removes option introduced by Urban Regeneration and Housing Act 2015 that allowed Part V obligations to be met through leasing instead of ownership.
- Ensures affordable and social homes remain state-secured long-term by eliminating temporary leasing as compliance method for developer housing contributions.
Anti-Evictions Bill 2018
2 May 2025 Committee Stage Current Ruth Coppinger
- Extends tenant rights in student accommodation and makes most tenancies indefinite-duration, requiring longer notice periods for termination.
- Removes property sale and renovation as eviction grounds; adds compensation when landlords need homes for personal use.
- Includes receivers and lenders as landlords; makes all tenancies over two months subject to Part 4 protections.
Acquisition of Development Land (Assessment of Compensation) Bill 2021
2 May 2025 Committee Stage Current Alan Kelly
- Caps compensation for compulsorily acquired development land at 125% of current use value (existing value excluding development potential) for land acquired after bill introduction.
- For land acquired before introduction, allows higher compensation based on original cost plus improvements plus investment returns, but capped at open market value on acquisition date.
- Requires local authorities disposing of acquired land for housing to pass compensation savings to ultimate purchasers or tenants, preventing abnormal profit.
Prohibition of Advertising or Importuning Sex for Rent Bill 2025
10 Apr 2025 Committee Stage Current Laura Harmon
- Bans soliciting or pressuring people to provide sex in exchange for reduced rent or free housing.
- Creates legal protection against landlords or housing providers conditioning accommodation on sexual services.
- Applies to all residential tenancies and housing arrangements where rent or housing access is involved.
Seanad Electoral (University Members) (Amendment) Bill 2020
28 Mar 2025 Committee Stage Current Pat Casey
- Expands who can vote in Seanad university panel elections to all adults with Irish third-level qualifications, not just graduates.
- Amends the Seanad Electoral (University Members) Acts 1937–2006 to implement seventh constitutional amendment provisions.
- Broadens the electorate beyond current university graduate voters to include all qualifying third-level credential holders aged 18+.
Electoral (Amendment) (Voting at 16) Bill 2021
28 Mar 2025 Committee Stage Current Malcolm Byrne
- Lowers voting age from 18 to 16 for European Parliament and local government elections only.
- Allows 16-year-olds to register as electors for these two election types; does not affect general elections.
- Currently in Committee Stage; bill details on implementation and related administrative changes not yet finalized.
First Aid and Mental Health in Schools (Existing Teachers) Bill 2018
28 Mar 2025 Committee Stage Current Robbie Gallagher
- All existing school staff must complete occupational first aid and mental health first aid training within two years, with refresher training every five years thereafter.
- Schools must maintain training logs, retain completion certificates, develop annual first aid policies, and keep equipped first aid boxes on premises.
- Minister prescribes approved training courses and refresher courses; Boards of Management must facilitate staff attendance and ensure compliance with all requirements.
First Aid and Mental Health in Schools (Initial Teacher Training) Bill 2018
28 Mar 2025 Committee Stage Current Robbie Gallagher
- Requires initial teacher training courses to include occupational first aid and mental health first aid training at a level prescribed by the Minister for Education and Skills.
- Prohibits schools from hiring teachers unless they provide evidence of completing required first aid and mental health training or approved refresher courses.
- Makes school Boards of Management responsible for ensuring no employed staff lack evidence of successfully completing the required training.
Free Provision of Period Products Bill 2021
28 Mar 2025 Committee Stage Current Lorraine Clifford-Lee
- Requires Minister for Health to create a scheme enabling free access to period products for all who need them.
- Sets obligation for the scheme to regulate and control how free period products are distributed and accessed.
- Aims to eliminate cost barriers to period product access by mandating government provision at no charge.
Seanad Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2015
28 Mar 2025 Committee Stage Current Diarmuid Wilson
- Expands who can vote in Seanad bye-elections to fill vacant seats to include local authority members.
- Changes the electoral base for casual vacancies in Seanad Éireann from current rules to a broader electorate.
- Bill at Committee Stage; specific details of which local authorities or voting thresholds not provided in source.
Defence (Restriction on Use of Certain Titles) Bill 2021
28 Mar 2025 Committee Stage Current Malcolm Byrne
- Restricts use of 'Óglaigh na hÉireann' and 'Defence Forces' terms to official Irish Defence Forces only.
- Amends Defence Act 1954 to prevent other organisations using these protected titles in their names.
- Aims to protect Defence Forces branding and prevent confusion with non-official military-style groups.