Bills
359 bills tracked. What do the stages mean?
Employment Equality (Pay Transparency) Bill 2022
20 Feb 2025 Second Stage Lapsed Pa Daly
- Amends Employment Equality Act 1998 to require job advertisers to publish approximate pay for advertised roles.
- Aims to enable workers to negotiate fairly and help close the gender pay gap through wage transparency.
- Applies to business and public sector organisations posting job advertisements.
Impaired Farm Credit Bill 2022
20 Feb 2025 Second Stage Defeated Michael Healy-Rae
- Splits farm mortgages into farmhouse and farmlands; farmhouse gets home-loan protections and cannot be repossessed without court order.
- Creates moratorium period monitored by receiver to allow farmers develop debt settlement proposal before possession or sale of farmlands.
- Allows court to impose binding debt restructuring on creditors following EU Directive 2019/1023, enabling debt discharge and fresh start for viable farms.
Education (Inspection of Individual Education Plans for Children with Special Needs) Bill 2022
20 Feb 2025 Second Stage Lapsed Pauline Tully
- Amends Education Act 1998 to give the Inspectorate new powers to examine and report annually on individual education plans for children with special needs.
- Inspectorate must assess prevalence and standard of these plans and report findings to the Minister for Education each year.
- Establishes legal framework enabling Inspectorate to collect and provide data on special educational needs planning on recurring annual basis.
Thirty-ninth Amendment of the Constitution (Right to Vote at 16) Bill 2021
20 Feb 2025 Second Stage Lapsed Thomas Pringle
- Proposes constitutional amendment to lower voting age from 18 to 16 for elections and referendums.
- Requires Oireachtas approval, then public referendum to pass. Bill lapsed without becoming law.
- Would expand franchise; practical effect unknown without details on which elections included.
Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021
20 Feb 2025 Second Stage Lapsed Chris Andrews
- Adds 'socio-economic disadvantage' as a prohibited ground of discrimination in employment under the Employment Equality Act 1998, preventing employers from discriminating based on applicant's background or address.
- Extends 'socio-economic disadvantage' protection to goods, services, accommodation, and education under the Equal Status Act 2000, preventing providers from discriminating based on where someone lives.
- Defines 'socio-economic disadvantage' and creates legal comparators and exceptions framework to align the new ground with existing equality protections across both Acts.
Health (Amendment) (Dual Diagnosis: No Wrong Door) Bill 2021
20 Feb 2025 Second Stage Lapsed Mark Ward
- Requires HSE to include dual diagnosis services (substance misuse plus mental health disorders) in its annual service plan submitted to the Minister for approval.
- Establishes joint care planning between mental health and addiction services to ensure coordinated treatment access for people with dual diagnosis.
- Applies 'No Wrong Door' principle: people can access treatment through either mental health or addiction services without being turned away.
Protection of Children (Online Pornographic Material) Bill 2020
20 Feb 2025 Second Stage Defeated Peadar Tóibín
- Minister must create regulations within six months requiring age-verification or similar means to prevent children accessing online pornography, consulting Data Protection Commission, Film Classification Office, and ComReg.
- ComReg empowered to issue information notices to relevant persons, enforcement notices to stop contraventions, and block internet access to material for up to 14 days (extendable by High Court order).
- Non-compliance with enforcement notices allows ComReg to notify payment and ancillary service providers; breaches constitute criminal offences prosecuted by DPP or ComReg with prescribed penalties.
Údarás na Gaeltachta (Amendment) Bill 2018
20 Feb 2025 Second Stage Lapsed Dessie Ellis
- Introduces democratic elections for Údarás na Gaeltachta members, replacing current appointment method.
- Applies to the authority managing economic and social development in Irish-speaking regions (Gaeltacht).
- Bill lapsed without becoming law; practical impact of proposed changes did not take effect.
Autism Spectrum Disorder Bill 2017
20 Feb 2025 Second Stage Lapsed James Reilly
- Requires Minister for Health to develop and publish a cross-departmental Autism Spectrum Disorder Strategy within two years, addressing service gaps and inconsistencies across the State.
- Strategy must establish accountability systems, define care pathways, ensure consistent service availability nationwide, and require all relevant departments and HSE to implement their parts.
- Minister must publish progress reports every three years to Oireachtas, collect prevalence data from HSE, provide implementation guidance to agencies, and fund a public awareness campaign.
Protection of Children (Online Age Verification) Bill 2024
30 Jan 2025 Second Stage Lapsed Sharon Keogan
- Requires age-verification systems to block under-18s from accessing online pornography.
- Applies to internet pornographic material; enforcement mechanism and technical standards not specified in title.
- Bill lapsed during Second Stage; did not progress to law.
Broadcasting (Restriction of Salaries) Bill 2023
30 Jan 2025 Second Stage Lapsed Rónán Mullen
- Caps RTÉ and TG4 salaries at the level of Cabinet Ministers (€195,161 in 2023); applies to employees and contractors.
- Requires RTÉ and TG4 to publish names and salaries of staff earning above a Dáil member's salary (€107,376 in 2023).
- Creates criminal offences for breaching salary cap or publishing false remuneration data, with fines up to €50,000 and/or five years imprisonment.
National Minimum Wage (Inclusion of Apprentices) Bill 2023
30 Jan 2025 Second Stage Lapsed Marie Sherlock
- Extends national minimum wage protections to apprentices by amending the National Minimum Wage Act 2000.
- Apprentices currently excluded from minimum wage requirements; this bill includes them within existing wage protections.
- Bill lapsed at Second Stage; did not progress to further debate or enactment.
Civil Liability (Schools) Bill 2023
30 Jan 2025 Second Stage Lapsed Rónán Mullen
- Adds new protections to Civil Liability Act 1961: schools cannot be sued for student injuries from accidents on premises if they have adequate supervision and comply with health and safety regulations.
- Shields teachers from negligence liability when providing first aid, medical advice, or transporting injured students to hospital, unless conduct amounts to gross negligence or bad faith.
- Sets legal standard of care for teachers as that of a prudent parent, codifying the test courts have generally applied in school negligence cases.
Domestic Violence (Amendment) Bill 2023
30 Jan 2025 Second Stage Lapsed Vincent P. Martin
- Amends 2018 Domestic Violence Act to prevent accused persons from directly cross-examining child witnesses or alleged victims in coercive control cases.
- Protects vulnerable witnesses from face-to-face questioning by accused abusers during court proceedings involving coercive control offences.
- Bill lapsed; did not progress beyond Second Stage debate in Oireachtas.
Civil Registration (Amendment) (Certificate of Life) Bill 2022
30 Jan 2025 Second Stage Lapsed Regina Doherty
- Amends Civil Registration Act 2004 to allow Minister for Health to create a non-statutory Certificate of Life register for babies not meeting stillbirth criteria.
- Certificate of Life available for unborn children below 500 grammes weight or less than 24 weeks gestation, with no gestational or weight restrictions.
- Provides families with official recognition of loss and potential traceability record for future generations outside statutory stillbirth registration.
National Minimum Wage (Payment of Interns) Bill 2022
30 Jan 2025 Second Stage Lapsed Marie Sherlock
- Requires employers to pay the national minimum wage to interns and work-experience participants, amending the 2000 National Minimum Wage Act.
- Closes a gap where interns could previously work without minimum wage protection; extends wage rights to this group.
- Bill did not progress past Second Stage debate and lapsed without becoming law.
Planning and Development (Built Heritage Protection) Bill 2022
30 Jan 2025 Second Stage Lapsed Victor Boyhan
- Requires planning authorities and An Bord Pleanála to employ Architectural Conservation Officers with building conservation qualifications to advise on heritage protection decisions.
- Removes planning authority discretion to permit demolition of protected structures; demolition requires first removing the building from the Record of Protected Structures via statutory process.
- Increases penalties for damage to heritage properties, removes defences for reckless damage, and mandates enforcement action within 3 working days when original fabric is at risk.
Coroners (Provision for Jury Selection) (Amendment) Bill 2022
30 Jan 2025 Second Stage Lapsed Lynn Boylan
- Amends the Coroners Act 1962 to allow coroners to select juries using procedures from the Juries Act 1976.
- Specifically enables jury selection for the Stardust Inquest using standard jury selection rules.
- Bill lapsed during Second Stage; did not progress to become law.
Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment) Bill 2022
30 Jan 2025 Second Stage Lapsed Rónán Mullen
- Creates three new offences for knowingly providing false or misleading information to PIAB during claims applications or assessments.
- Applies existing penalties: up to €3,000 fine and/or six months imprisonment for each new offence under the 2003 Act.
- Strengthens PIAB process integrity by deterring false claims and false information in defence of genuine claims.
Local Government (Surveillance Powers in Relation to Certain Offences) Bill 2022
30 Jan 2025 Second Stage Lapsed Malcolm Byrne
- Local authorities can authorise installation and operation of surveillance devices to deter, prevent, detect, and prosecute certain offences.
- Third parties must share relevant data with local authorities to help them perform functions related to these offences.
- The Bill sets out rules for how local authorities regulate and perform these surveillance and data-sharing functions.
Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Bill 2021
30 Jan 2025 Second Stage Lapsed Eugene Murphy
- Removes restrictions on the Electricity Supply Board's ability to manage water levels on three Shannon lakes: Lough Derg, Lough Ree, and Lough Allen.
- Amends the 1934 Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Act to give ESB greater operational flexibility for these water management works.
- Bill lapsed without becoming law; did not progress beyond Second Stage debate in Dáil.
Registration of Wills Bill 2021
30 Jan 2025 Second Stage Lapsed Victor Boyhan
- Establishes a national register of wills kept by General Register Office, allowing testators or solicitors to register the name and address of will custodians to reduce lost or delayed discovery of wills.
- Restricts public access to registered will information until testator's death; only General Register Office staff can search and provide certified copies to testator or after death registration.
- Amends Civil Registration Act 2004 to extend registrar roles to include will registration, establishes penalties of up to €2,000 fine or six months imprisonment for registrars refusing registration without cause.
Civil Legal Aid (Exclusion of Value of Free or Partly Free Board) (Amendment) Bill 2021
30 Jan 2025 Second Stage Lapsed Lynn Boylan
- Amends Civil Legal Aid Act 1995 to exclude free or partly free board from income assessment when determining eligibility for civil legal aid.
- Addresses situation where Housing Assistance Payment, paid directly to landlords by local authorities, is currently counted as applicant income and prevents aid access.
- Removes barrier that denies low-income applicants civil legal aid based on housing assistance they receive.
Gambling (Prohibition of Advertising) Bill 2021
30 Jan 2025 Second Stage Lapsed Mark Wall
- Prohibits advertising of gambling (betting, gaming) across all media, with exceptions for charity events and horse/dog racecourse printed matter.
- Bans broadcast advertising and sponsorship of broadcast programmes for gambling; applies to Irish and foreign broadcasters targeting Irish audiences.
- Creates offences with penalties up to €250,000 fine or 3 years imprisonment on indictment; €5,000 or 6 months in District Court.