Bills
367 bills tracked. What do the stages mean?
Arts (Recognition of Comedy) (Amendment) Bill 2024
14 Nov 2025 Second Stage Current Aengus Ó Snodaigh
- Adds 'comedy' to the list of art forms explicitly named in the Arts Act 2003's definition of 'arts', alongside visual arts, theatre, literature, music, dance, opera, film, circus and architecture.
- Removes the Arts Council's basis for excluding stand-up comedy from Theatre Bursary Award eligibility and other funding schemes by mandating its recognition as an artform.
- Ensures future arts funding and development opportunities cannot exclude comedy due to narrow interpretation of legislation.
Forty-first Amendment of the Constitution (Reduction of Voting Age to Sixteen Years) Bill 2025
13 Nov 2025 Second Stage Current Aidan Farrelly
- Proposes constitutional amendment to lower voting age from 18 to 16 years old.
- Requires passage through Oireachtas and public referendum to take effect.
- Currently at Second Stage; specific election or local voting application details not provided in bill text.
Emergency Inspection of Dublin Zoo Bill 2025
7 Nov 2025 Second Stage Current Paul Murphy
- Bill requires the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to produce a report on appointing an emergency independent inspector for Dublin Zoo.
- No powers granted to the Minister to appoint an inspector; bill only mandates a report on the appointment process.
- Bill contains two sections: one requiring the report, one addressing commencement date.
Companies (Protection of Title: Accountant) Bill 2025
23 Oct 2025 Second Stage Current Malcolm Byrne
- Restricts use of title 'accountant' to members of recognised accountancy bodies approved by IAASA; prohibits unqualified individuals and non-compliant companies from using the designation.
- Creates offences with fines and imprisonment for misusing the 'accountant' title; designates IAASA to maintain register and enforce compliance.
- Amends Companies Act 2014 to formally protect 'accountant' as regulated professional title, aligning it with existing protections for 'auditor'.
Education (Amendment) Bill 2024
22 Oct 2025 Second Stage Current Sorca Clarke
- Allows families of children with special educational needs to apply for school places two years before the child would ordinarily attend that school.
- Requires schools to set different application dates in admission notices for students with special educational needs, with applications accepted from October two years prior.
- Gives schools time to arrange resources and secure places for children with additional educational needs, and provides families with early certainty of enrollment.
Regulation of Drones Bill 2025
16 Oct 2025 Second Stage Current Roderic O'Gorman
- Requires local authorities to create drone management objectives in development plans, prioritizing public interest operations and ensuring consistency with national planning policies.
- Allows individuals, local authorities, and the EPA to complain to District Court about noise from private or commercial drones, removing blanket aircraft exemption.
- Adds drone regulation as a mandatory consideration when issuing National Planning Statements, ensuring uniform national conditions for private and commercial drone use.
Domestic Violence (Free Travel Scheme) Bill 2025
15 Oct 2025 Second Stage Current Laura Harmon
- Establishes a free travel scheme allowing domestic violence victims to access transport without payment when fleeing unsafe situations.
- Bill is at Second Stage in Parliament; sponsor Laura Harmon introduced it to create support mechanisms for people escaping domestic abuse.
- Specific eligibility criteria, transport types covered, and implementation details not yet available in current legislative text.
Criminal Justice (Promotion of Restorative Justice) (Amendment) Bill 2023
8 Sep 2025 Second Stage Current Pa Daly
- Amends Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Act 2017 to allow courts to refer cases to restorative justice schemes before conviction and dismiss charges if appropriate.
- Permits An Garda Síochána and Director of Public Prosecutions to refer cases to restorative justice schemes before court and review prosecution decisions if appropriate.
- Encourages court referrals to restorative justice between conviction and sentencing; prohibits participation in restorative justice from being used as evidence of guilt.
Protection of Retail Workers Bill 2025
14 Aug 2025 Second Stage Current Mary Fitzpatrick
- Creates new criminal offences for assaulting or threatening retail workers while they work.
- Amends the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994 to add these specific protections.
- Currently at Second Stage; practical penalties and exact scope of 'retail worker' undefined.
Wildlife (Amendment) Bill 2025
18 Jul 2025 Second Stage Current Jennifer Whitmore
- Adds sprat fish to the Fifth Schedule of the Wildlife Act 1976, making it a protected species and prohibiting targeted fishing except as accidental bycatch.
- Imposes a moratorium on commercial sprat fishing until sufficient scientific data exists on population, habitat, and ecological role in marine ecosystems.
- Requires development of a Just Transition plan to support inshore fishers affected by the moratorium, including retraining, diversification, and financial assistance.
Occupying Power (Securities and Handling of Settlement Goods) Bill 2025
18 Jul 2025 Second Stage Current Duncan Smith
- Central Bank must refuse to approve prospectus for securities issued by occupying powers and revoke any prior approvals.
- Dismissal of employee for refusing to handle goods produced in occupied settlements is deemed unfair under unfair dismissal law.
- Bill applies to territories designated as occupied by International Court of Justice or International Criminal Court under Geneva Convention.
Taxes Consolidation (Development of Regional Film Industry) (Amendment) Bill 2025
18 Jul 2025 Second Stage Current Aengus Ó Snodaigh
- Amends section 481 of Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 to require Minister for Culture to consider film industry development in low-capacity regions when issuing cultural certificates for film tax relief.
- Empowers Minister to identify and prescribe low-audiovisual-capacity regions by regulation after consulting enterprise minister, Screen Ireland, sector stakeholders, local authorities and communities.
- Allows Minister to include regional development measures in industry development test for section 481 film tax relief to promote production outside Dublin-Wicklow hub.
Aircraft Noise (Dublin Airport) Regulation (Transfer of Functions) Bill 2024
17 Jul 2025 Second Stage Defeated Duncan Smith
- Transfers aircraft noise regulation authority for Dublin Airport from Fingal County Council to the Environmental Protection Agency.
- EPA becomes the legally designated competent authority under EU Aircraft Noise Regulation; all existing FCC noise-related functions transfer to EPA.
- Repeals provisions making FCC chief executive the competent authority; addresses concerns that true functional independence was not achieved.
Compulsory Purchase Order Bill 2025
17 Jul 2025 Second Stage Current James Geoghegan
- Replaces 1845 and 1919 Acts with modern compulsory land acquisition rules. Sets compensation assessment process, vesting order procedures, and time limits for claims.
- Transfers compensation disputes to Valuation Tribunal for expert determination. Owners can request advance payments of at least 90% before final compensation agreed.
- Allows acquiring authorities to withdraw notices within six weeks with compensation for losses. Covers severance, injurious affection, and equivalent reinstatement in compensation principles.
Road Traffic and Roads (Blood Bikes Exemption) (Amendment) Bill 2025
16 Jul 2025 Second Stage Current Aengus Ó Snodaigh
- Exempts blood bike vehicles from paying road tolls, matching current exemptions for ambulances, fire brigade, gardaí, and Defence Forces.
- Grants blood bikes same traffic regulation exemptions as ambulances, including bus lane access restrictions, when performing healthcare delivery duties.
- Applies exemptions to unpaid volunteer courier services transporting blood, medical samples, and clinical products to hospitals and healthcare facilities.
Ministers and Secretaries (Attorney General) Bill 2023
11 Jul 2025 Second Stage Defeated Ivana Bacik
- Bars Attorney General from claiming legal privilege over advice cited to Oireachtas when explaining Government positions on Bills or resolutions.
- Requires Attorney General to prioritize public interest when handling State litigation: settle legitimate claims promptly, avoid technical defences, minimize costs, and apologize for wrongful conduct.
- Makes Attorney General subject to conduct codes under Standards in Public Office Act 2001; permits delegation of functions with recusal disclosure to Taoiseach and ethics commission.
Coroners (Amendment) Bill 2025
10 Jul 2025 Second Stage Current Mark Ward
- Adds new verdict option to coroner inquests: 'Iatrogenic Suicide' where medical treatment or prescribed medication was the primary cause of death by suicide.
- Distinguishes Iatrogenic Suicide from ordinary suicide verdicts under the Coroners Act 1962 to provide legal recognition of this specific circumstance.
- Includes safeguard preventing Iatrogenic Suicide verdicts from assigning civil or criminal liability, as per existing Act provisions.
Health (Availability of General Practitioner Services) Bill 2025
4 Jul 2025 Second Stage Current Marie Sherlock
- Creates statutory duty for HSE to ensure GP services accessible fairly across State based on local health needs assessment, considering population distribution and social determinants.
- Requires HSE to report progress toward this objective in corporate plans and propose strategies to achieve it, using available resources without automatic budget increase.
- Addresses current gap where HSE funds but cannot direct GP placement, establishing direct link between needs assessment and service provision decisions.
Organisation of Working Time (Leave for Health Screening Purposes) Bill 2025
4 Jul 2025 Second Stage Current Duncan Smith
- Creates statutory right to paid leave for employees to attend HSE cervical, breast, colon cancer screening, or other screening recommended by their doctor.
- Excludes health screening leave from weekly working hours cap calculations and nightly hours reference periods under Organisation of Working Time Act 1997.
- Dismissal for taking health screening leave is presumed unfair; protects continuity of service for redundancy; disputes handled by Workplace Relations Commission.
Health (Scoliosis Treatment Services) Bill 2024
3 Jul 2025 Second Stage Current Gerard P. Craughwell
- HSE must establish specialized scoliosis treatment service for inpatient and outpatient care of children and adults in Ireland.
- Minister for Health given powers and duties to oversee the service establishment and related matters.
- Bill is at Second Stage; specific service details, funding, and timeline not yet evident from long title.
Animal Health and Welfare (Welfare of Pigs) Bill 2025
2 Jul 2025 Second Stage Current Paul Murphy
- Bans teeth-clipping, tail-docking, and castration of pigs except for therapeutic or diagnostic purposes.
- Restricts tusk reduction in boars to last-resort situations where necessary to prevent injury or safety risks.
- Prohibits sow stalls and farrowing crates smaller than 5 square metres that prevent sows turning around.
Disregard of Historic Offences for Consensual Sexual Activity Between Men Bill 2025
2 Jul 2025 Second Stage Current Aengus Ó Snodaigh
- Establishes a process for people convicted or cautioned for consensual sexual activity between men to apply for disregard of those historic convictions, removing legal barriers to employment and professional rights.
- Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission decides applications and issues certificates of disregard; decisions can be appealed to an Appeals Officer with Garda records updated accordingly.
- Application process is free; Commission provides support to applicants; Minister must review the scheme within 3 years and publicly inform citizens of the process.
Victims of Sexual Violence Civil Protection Orders Bill 2025
27 Jun 2025 Second Stage Current Matt Carthy
- Creates new civil protection orders for victims of sexual violence when courts find sexual offences proved under specified criminal laws.
- Allows courts to issue protection orders for complainants in cases involving rape, human trafficking, child exploitation, and related sexual offences.
- Defines eligible victims and establishes legal mechanism for courts to grant civil protection orders following criminal conviction or court findings.
Transparency and Social Value in Public Procurement Bill 2024
27 Jun 2025 Second Stage Current Mairéad Farrell
- Requires public bodies to submit annual reports to the Minister detailing procurement spending, including contract types, social clauses used, SME awards, contractor performance, cost overruns, and non-compliant spending.
- Minister must compile and publish aggregate annual reports on all public procurement data to identify system performance gaps and areas for improvement.
- Amends Companies Act 2014 to register additional company information including procurement awards, court judgments, beneficial ownership, and bankruptcy status.