Politics

Seanad to sit three days next week to pass two key Government Bills

Opposition sees sign of autumn election as Coalition moves to have legislation passed on planning, and designating the UK as a safe third country

Photograph: Alan Betson, Irish Times Staff Photographer. -------------------------------------- Houses of the Oireachtas Commission suppliment The Seanad Chamber looking towards the chair of the Cathairleach at Leinster House ( senate ) taken on 26/3/07
Seanad Éireann will reconvene next week for three full sitting days. Photograph: Alan Betson/The Irish Times
Harry McGee
Fri Jul 12 2024 - 09:05

Seanad Éireann will reconvene next week for three full sitting days to facilitate the passage of two key Government Bills before the summer recess.

While the Dáil adjourned for the summer on Thursday evening, the Upper House is scheduled to sit between Monday and Wednesday next week to debate the mammoth Planning and Development Bill 2023 as well as the Courts, Civil Law, Criminal Law Bill 2024.

Both are likely to be subject to guillotine before the Seanad rises at 5.30pm on Wednesday.

The Bills are among a large number that have been brought before the Dáil during its last sitting week, and which have been taken by the Opposition as a sign that the Government is planning for an election in the autumn.

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The Planning Bill, which has 590 sections and 25 parts, has been the subject of months of debate in committee. One of its intentions is to streamline the planning process. Its proposals to increase the threshold required before submissions are made, particularly to the courts, has been the subject of prolonged debate.

The Bill was guillotined in the Dáil last month, despite over 500 amendments not having been taken.

The Courts Bill, if passed, will allow the Government to designate the United Kingdom as a safe third country. This is seen as addressing a High Court decision last March that ruled Ireland’s designation of the UK as a safe third country was unlawful. It prevented the Government returning asylum seekers who had come from the UK.

In recent weeks, the Coalition has also moved swiftly to get Oireachtas approval for policies that are important for its three parties, including the approval of the EU Nature Restoration Law as well as a vote to opt into all seven parts of the EU Asylum and Migration Pact.

However, several key pieces of legislation for this Coalition will have to complete their passage through the Oireachtas early in the autumn session if they are to be enacted before the Government calls a general election.

The Gambling Regulation Bill 2022 proposes to establish a new Gambling Regulatory Authority and will bring in strict new laws around gambling, and the publicity of gambling. It has passed through all stages of the Dáil but has yet to be completed in the Seanad.

The Bill to abolish the two university panels in Seanad Éireann and to replace them with a panel that can be voted on by all third level graduates is unlikely to become law if there is an early election. It was included in 28 Bills that were prioritised for publication during the summer session by Chief Whip Hildegarde Naughton. However, it has yet to be published.

Only 11 of the 28 Bills had been published by the time the Dáil adjourned.

A number of Bills were enacted during the session that would be seen as important pieces of legislation for the Government.

They included the long-awaited Auto Enrolment Retirement Savings Plan Bill 2024, aimed at people with no private pensions. The Bill giving statutory backing to the two new rainy-day funds – the Future Ireland Fund and the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund – have also been enacted, as have Acts creating safe zones around abortion facilities; creating new offences for those who engage children in criminal activities; and the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill, which, for the first time, provides a statutory framework for surrogacy.

Harry McGee

Harry McGee

Harry McGee is a Political Correspondent with The Irish Times