Bills to tackle crime, suspend water charges and change the designation of some controversial raised bogs are among the legislative priorities of the Government in the coming months.
Announcing the legislative programme on Wednesday Government chief whip Regina Doherty said it represented a new partnership approach to running the country.
“We are the first minority Government in Ireland in almost 30 years and as such we will work in partnership with all those elected to the Oireachtas on a range of legislation that will come before the Dáil and Seanad over the years ahead” she said.
The Minister added that the cross party Dáil Reform committee had recommended a number of reforms that would provide new structures to allow the executive and the parliament work in partnership.
“This programme sets out the legislation that we as a Government will seek to publish over the next few months to start to fulfil the commitments made in the Programme for a Partnership Government to address the problems we face as a nation,” said the Minister.
She said the last Government had introduced a number of far reaching Oireachtas reforms including the pre-legislative stage for bills which had opened up the law making process like never before.
This process allows committees to review the heads of a bill and meet with experts, interested citizens and civil society groups working in the area before providing a report to the Minister while the bill is still being drafted.
Ms Doherty said this pre-legislative stage is key to the way Government legislative programmes will now be published.
The first list sets out the Government bills for the current session and comment on the pre-legislative status of each Bill. A second list sets out bills which will undergo the pre legislative stage in this session.
There is third list setting out bills each Government Department plans to introduce in the long term with an update on the status of each with a fourth list of the bills currently before the Oireachtas.
Two final lists set out the Acts passed and the bills published by the current Government since it took office on the May 6th.
The Cabinet approved 11 Bills in its first legislative programme with a focus on tackling crime with a Criminal Justice Bill, Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Bill and Bills to reform the law on suspended sentences and victims of crime.
It has also prioritised the Water Services Bill to deal with the suspension of water charges for nine months and establishment of an external advisory body
An Education (Admissions to Schools) Bill, contains provisions regarding the enrolment of pupils in schools and the requirement for schools to operate enrolment policies in a transparent fashion
The Paternity Bill providing for the introduction of two weeks paternity leave and associated social welfare benefit as from September of this year is also on the list as the is Commissions of Investigation (IBRC) Bill which is designed to allow the inquiry to work
Another priority is a Wildlife (Amendment) Bill providing the necessary powers to the Minister to allow the de-designation of certain Raised Bog Natural Heritage Areas, as required in line with a review approved by Government in 2014 and submitted to the European Commission in the context of ongoing legal action against Ireland
Ms Doherty said these 11 bills together with the 14 Government Bills currently before the Dáil, 2 of which fell with the dissolution of the last Dáil but were reinstated, and three Bills the Government intends to reinstate in the Seanad meant that the Government would have an active legislative agenda for the remainder of this Dáil term and into the autumn term.
