Total of 54 bills passed into law in 2019

The Government Chief Whip Seán Kyne has confirmed that 54 bills became law during 2019 – one of the highest annual legislative totals of the past decade. 

The Dáil has passed bills this year on areas relating to housing, Brexit, healthcare, supports for families, insurance reform, climate action, and the economy.

Above average

Minster Kyne said: “This year, the Government has led 54 bills through the Oireachtas, which is the highest annual total under the current Government, and well above the annual average of 46 bills per year over the decade.

“This total is more significant, given the time needed for the Brexit Act earlier this year,” he said.

In housing, tenants’ rights have been strengthened, rent controls extended, and approved housing bodies regulated.

In relation to justice and equality, there are new laws that:

• Give effect to the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women,
• Extend the redress process to cover other institutions,
• Increase the number of judges,
• Establish the Judicial Council,
• Set up a new Citizens’ Assembly to advance gender equality, and
• Extend parental leave and introduce paid parental leave.  

Bills enacted in 2019

Number 1: Local Government Act 2019 –

an act to provide for the transfer of part of the administrative area of the Council of the County of Cork to the administrative area of the Council of the City of Cork; to provide for the holding of plebiscites by certain local authorities on the question as to whether or not the cathaoirligh of those local authorities should be elected to such positions, and whether or not certain functions of the chief executives of those local authorities should be transferred to those cathaoirligh; and to amend the Local Government Act 1991 , the Local Government Act 2001, the Valuation Act 2001, and the Official Languages Act 2003.

Number 2: Hallmarking (Amendment) Act 2019 –

an act to amend and extend the law relating to the assaying and hallmarking of articles of precious metal; to make provision for the assaying and hallmarking in certain circumstances of articles of precious metal outside the State; and to amend the Hallmarking Act 1981.

Number 3: Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment) Act 2019 –

an act to amend and extend the Personal Injuries Assessment Board Act 2003. 

Number 4 of 2019: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) (Amendment) Act 2019 –

an act to amend the Punishment of Incest Act 1908 and the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017.

Number 5 of 2019: Data Sharing and Governance Act 2019 -- an act to provide for the regulation of the sharing of information, including personal data, between public bodies, and the regulation of the management of information by public bodies; to provide for the establishment of base registries; to provide for the collection of public-service information; to establish the Data Governance Board; to amend the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997; to amend the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005; to amend the Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Act 2011, and to amend the National Shared Services Office Act 2017.

Number 6: Criminal Law (Extraterritorial Jurisdiction) Act 2019 –

an act to extend the criminal law of the State to certain conduct engaged in – outside the State, and to give effect to certain provisions of the Council of Europe Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women, and to amend the Criminal Justice (Mutual Assistance) Act 2008.

Number 7: European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Act 2019 –

an act to give effect to European Council Decision (EU) 2018/937 of 28 June 2018, establishing the composition of the European Parliament and Council Decision (EU, Euratom) 2018/994 of 13 July 2018, amending the act concerning the election of the members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage, annexed to Council Decision 76/787/ECSC, EEC, Euratom of 20 September 1976 and, for that purpose, to revise the European Parliament constituencies; to provide for the number of members to be elected for such constituencies; to amend the European Parliament Elections Act 1997 and to amend the Electoral Act 1992.

Number 8: Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (Consequential Provisions) Act 2019 --

an act to make provision for certain matters consequent on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from membership of the European Union.

Number 9: Sea-Fisheries (Amendment) Act 2019 –

an act to amend section 10 of the Sea-Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Act 2006.

Number 10: Companies (Amendment) Act –

An Act to amend section 343 of the Companies Act 2014.

Number 11 of 2019: Parental Leave (Amendment) Act 2019 --

an act to amend and extend the Parental Leave Act 1998.

Number 12: Aircraft Noise (Dublin Airport) Regulation Act 2019 –

an act for the purposes of giving further effect to the Aircraft Noise (Dublin Airport) Regulation and to make additional provision for regulation, and to amend the Planning and Development Act 2000 to cater for the situation where development at Dublin Airport may give rise to an aircraft-noise problem.

Number 13 of 2019: Civil Registration Act 2019 –

an act to amend the Civil Registration Act 2004; to amend the Civil Registration (Amendment) Act 2014; to amend the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015.

Number 14: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2019 – an act to amend the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004 to 2016; to provide for powers to carry out investigations of landlords, and impose administrative sanctions; to provide for offences in relation to non-compliance with rent increase restrictions in rent pressure zones; to increase the notice periods to be provided in the case of termination of a tenancy by a landlord; to provide for annual registration by landlords of tenancies, and to amend the registration process; to provide for mandatory publication of determination orders by the Residential Tenancies Board; to provide that the letting of a house or part thereof for any period not exceeding 14 days in a rent-pressure zone is a material change in the use of the house or part and, for that purpose, to amend the Planning and Development Act 2000. 

Number 15: Greyhound Racing Act 2019 –

an act to amend and extend the Greyhound Industry Acts 1958 and 1993, the Welfare of Greyhounds Act 2011, the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013, and to change the name of Bord na gCon. 

Number 16: Health and Social Care Professionals (Amendment) Act 2019 –

an act to amend the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 to provide for the recognition of certain professional qualifications as approved qualifications within the meaning of section 38 of that act.

Number 17: Health Service Executive (Governance) Act 2019 –

an act to amend the Health Act 2004 to provide that the Health Service Executive shall be governed by a board and not a directorate, and to provide that the executive shall have a chief executive officer accountable to that board.

Number 18: National Surplus (Reserve Fund for Exceptional Contingencies) Act 2019 –

an act to establish the National Surplus (Exceptional Contingencies) Reserve Fund to be drawn upon only in defined circumstances of an exceptional nature; to provide for the transfer of certain assets and sums to the fund; the management and control of the fund, and to amend the National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Act 2014.

Number 19: Copyright and Other Intellectual Property Law Provisions Act 2019 –

an act to amend the Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000 to take account of the 2013 report of the Copyright Review Committee Modernising Copyright. It takes account of certain exceptions to copyright permitted by Directive 2001/29/EC of the European Parliament on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society. It also makes consequential amendments to the Courts of Justice Act 1924, the Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act 1961, the Patents Act 1992, the Trade Marks Act 1996 and the Industrial Designs Act 2001; amends the Patents Act 1992, and the Trade Marks Act 1996.

Number 20: Criminal Justice (Mutual Recognition of Probation Judgements and Decisions) Act 2019 –

an act to give effect to Council Framework Decision 2008/947/JHA of 27 November 2008 on giving mutual recognition to judgments and probation decisions rendered in the absence of the person concerned at the trial.

Number 21: Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2019 –

an act to amend the Industrial Relations Act 1990 to apply certain provisions of the Industrial Relations Acts 1946 to 2015 to some gardaí.

Number 22: Land and Conveyancing Law Reform (Amendment) Act 2019 –

an act to amend the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2013 to provide for the procedure to be followed in certain legal proceedings to which section 2 of that act applies.

Number 23: Civil Law (Presumption of Death) Act 2019 –

an act to provide for the civil status of a missing person where the circumstances of his or her absence leads to a presumption of death.

Number 24: Local Government Rates and Other Matters Act 2019 --an act to revise the law relating to the collection of rates in relation to certain properties, to provide for the establishment and maintenance of a database of those properties in the State, to provide for the amendment and repeal of certain enactments; and to amend the Planning and Development Act 2000 and make provision for regional spatial and economic strategies, and to amend the Residential Tenancies Act 2004, and the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2019.

Citizens' Assemblies 

Number 25: Citizens’ Assemblies Act 2019 –

an act to provide for the access and use of information contained in the register of electors established under the Electoral Act 1992 for the purpose of selecting citizens of Ireland to be members of certain citizens’ assemblies.

Number 26: Redress for Women Resident in Certain Institutions (Amendment) Act 2019 –

an act to amend the Redress for Women Resident in Certain Institutions Act 2015; to amend the Nursing Homes Support Scheme Act 2009.

Number 27 of 2019: Criminal Justice (International Co-operation) Act 2019 –

an act to provide for the taking of evidence in the State from gardaí for inquests and inquiries held in the UK and in the North of Ireland. The law amends the Garda Síochána Act 2005, amends the European Arrest Warrant Act 2003, and amends the Criminal Justice (Mutual Assistance) Act 2008.

Number 28: Parole Act 2019 –

an act to establish An Bord Parúil or the Parole Board and provide for its functions.

Number 29: Coroners (Amendment) Act 2019 –

an act to amend the Coroners Act 1962.

Number 30: Courts Act 2019 –

an act to amend section 1A of the Courts (Establishment and Constitution) Act 1961 to increase the number of ordinary judges of the Court of Appeal to 15; to amend the Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act 1961; to amend the Courts and Court Officers Act 1995, and to amend the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015.

Number 31: CervicalCheck Tribunal Act 2019 –

an act to provide for the implementation of the report on an alternative system for dealing with claims arising from CervicalCheck.

Number 32: Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) (Amendment) Act 2019 –

an act to amend and extend the Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Act 2012 and to amend the Universities Act 1997.

Judicial Council

Number 33: Judicial Council Act 2019 –

an act to provide for the establishment of a body to be known as Comhairle na mBreithiúna or the Judicial Council.

Number 34: Social Welfare Act 2019 –

an act to amend and extend the Social Welfare Acts and to amend the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997. 

Number 35: Parent's Leave and Benefit Act 2019 –

an act to entitle certain employees to employment leave to care for a child and to entitle certain employees who are surviving parents in relation to a child to employment leave on the death of a relevant parent, and to provide for the payment of parent’s benefit to certain persons and, for that purpose, to amend the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005.

Number 36: Health and Childcare Support (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2019 –

an act to make provision, in the event of a no-deal Brexit, for: reimbursement by the Health Service Executive to eligible persons resident in the North for certain medical expenses incurred in a Member State; having regard to the Common Travel Area between Ireland and the UK, to make provision for eligibility of certain persons for financial support under the Affordable Childcare Scheme, and, for that purpose, to amend the Childcare Support Act 2018.

Number 37: Family Law Act 2019 –

an act to amend the Judicial Separation and Family Law Reform Act 1989; to amend the Family Law (Divorce) Act 1996; to amend the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010; to make provision for the recognition of certain divorces, legal separations and marriage annulments granted in the UK or Gibraltar.

Number 38: Consumer Protection (Gift Vouchers) Act 2019 –

an act to amend the Consumer Protection Act 2007.

Number 39: Finance (Tax Appeals and Prospectus Regulation) Act 2019 --

an act to amend the Finance (Tax Appeals) Act 2015; to amend the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997; to amend the Civil Service Regulation Act 1956; to amend the Companies Act 2014.

Number 40 of 2019: Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons Act 2019 – 

an act to give effect to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons done at New York on 7 July 2017 and, for those purposes, to provide for offence relating to acts prohibited by that treaty. 

Bills passed by Oireachtas

Bills passed by the Oireachtas, and expected to be signed by the President before year-end:

41. Finance Bill 2019 – an act to provide for the imposition, repeal, remission, alteration and regulation of taxation, of stamp duties, and of duties relating to excise and regulation of customs.

42. Social Welfare No 2 Bill 2019 -- an act to amend and extend the Social Welfare Acts; to amend the National Minimum Wage Act 2000, and the National Training Fund Act 2000. 

43. Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Bill 2019 – an act to provide for the regulation of approved housing bodies by protecting certain housing assets provided or managed by such bodies. It establishes An tUdaras Riala Ia na gComhlachtai Tithiochta Faomhaithe or the Approved Housing Bodies Regulatory Authority and confers functions on it of governance, financial management, property and asset management and tenancy management. The act modifies certain provisions of the Companies Act 2014 to provide for the cancellation of registration of approved housing bodies; to establish an Appeals Panel and to amend the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1992.

44. Microbeads (Prohibition) Bill 2019 – an act to provide for the prohibition on the manufacture or placing on the market of certain products containing microbeads, and imposes restrictions in relation to their disposal.

45. Landlord and Tenant (Ground Rents) (Amendment) Bill 2017 – an act to amend the Landlord and Tenant (Ground Rents) (No 2) Act 1978 so as to better enable a lessee to acquire fee simple.

46. Gaming and Lotteries (Amendment) Bill 2019 -- an act to amend the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956.

47.  Criminal Records (Exchange of Information) Bill 2019 -- an act to give effect to Council Framework Decision 2009/315/JHA of 26 February 2009 on the exchange of information extracted from the criminal records between member states and to establish the European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS).

48. Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2019 -- an act to amend the Health Insurance Act 1994 to specify the amount of premium to be paid from the Risk Equalisation Fund in respect of certain classes of insured persons from 1 April 2020; to amend that act to specify the amount of the hospital utilisation credit applicable from that date, and to make a consequential amendment to the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999.

49. Blasphemy (Abolition of Offences and Related Matters) --an act to abolish the offences of blasphemy and blasphemous libel; to amend the Censorship of Films Act 1923 and the Censorship of Films (Amendment) Act 1925, and to repeal certain provisions of the Defamation Act 2009.

50. Industrial Development (Amendment) Bill 2019 - an act to extend the powers of Enterprise Ireland to make grants, make loans and purchase shares and to amend the Industrial Development Act 1986, the Industrial Development Act 1993, the Industrial Development (Enterprise Ireland) Act 1998, and the Microenterprise Loan Fund Act 2012. The act also provides for the repeal of Part 3 of the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (Consequential Provisions) Act 2019.

51. Appropriation Bill 2019 -- an act to appropriate to the proper supply services and purposes sums granted by the Central Fund (Permanent Provisions) Act 1965, to make provision in relation to deferred surrender to the Central Fund of certain undischarged appropriations, by reference to the capital supply services and purposes, as provided for by section 91 of the Finance Act 2004 and, for the purpose of maintaining a sufficient amount of moneys in the Paymaster General’s supply account so as to enable the discharge of particular liabilities, to make provision for repayable advances from the Central Fund.

52. Migration of Participating Securities Bill 2019 -- an act to make, in the public interest, provision with respect to the contingency that a substitute securities settlement system, compatible with EU law, for the securities settlement system commonly known as ‘CREST’. The law enables issuers of certain securities to avail themselves of the procedures hereafter.

53. Consumer Insurance Contracts Bill -- an act to reform the law of consumer insurance contracts and to provide for related matters.

Constitutional Amendment

54. Thirty-Eighth Amendment of the Constitution (Dissolution of Marriage) Act 2019 -- an act to amend the Constitution.