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Here are just some of the government's priorities for the months ahead

Renting, judge’s appointments, microbeads and noise at the airport – just some of the issues the government plan to tackle.

IT’S TWO WEEKS into the Dáil term and so far it has debated issues such as alcohol advertising, vulture funds, and post offices. There was a motion of no confidence in a minister thrown in for good measure. 

Over the summer, there was speculation that this Dáil might not last past October’s Budget, with many predicting a bump in negotiations with Fianna Fáil.

Ultimately, such a knock could end the confidence and supply arrangement – but the government is pressing on. 

This Dáil term is dominated by the Budget and the abortion legislation, which Health Minister Simon Harris has to get over the line in order to have services in place by 1 January. 

But it has other priorities too – 39 pieces of legislation, in fact. 

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So, what stands out on that priority list, published at the start of term? 

As mentioned, the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill is the government’s number one priority piece of legislation. It is due before the Dáil on Thursday, and is expected to have an easy passage through all Houses of the Oireachtas. 

There is what has been dubbed as Shane Ross’s Judicial Appointments Bill, which aims to introduce a new system of appointing judges. Earlier this year it was called a ‘dog’s dinner’ but it should finally be passed this session.

There’s the Unfair Contract Terms (Gift Vouchers) Bill. This will ensure that all vouchers will be valid for a minimum of five years. This would be an easy win for the government to get over the line by Christmas shopping time . 

For the weekend that’s in it (the 10th anniversary of the banking bailout), it is notable that the government plans to pass the National Surplus (Reserve Fund for Exceptional Contingencies) Bill – this is also known as the setting up of the ‘Rainy Day Fund’ for if and when Ireland hits on hard times again. 

Then there’s the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons Bill. It might seem unusual that Ireland haven’t already set this down in stone, but this Bill will enable Ireland to become a State Party to the 2017 Treaty of the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons which was adopted by 122 States at the UN last July. So that’s good to know. 

Ireland plans to ban microbeads and they’ll do so through the Microbeads Bill. Currently the Heads of the Bill are being prepared so it’s early days for this. (Find out more about the issue here.)

The State pays €1.5 billion to approved housing bodies (AHBs) to build houses, but as it turns out, these voluntary housing organisations are not regulated. The government plans to do this through the Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Bill. Despite the Heads of the Bill being drafted in 2015, and the Bill passing through pre-legislative scrutiny in early 2016, it still remains off the statute books. 

In relation to housing, the long-awaited Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill is another big priority. There isn’t a mention of the housing and rental crisis that goes by without Minister Eoghan Murphy stating that he wants to get this over the line. It will essentially provide further protections to tenants’ rights and give better enforcement powers to the Residential Tenancy Board, particularly around landlords that raise rents over and above the limit in the Rent Pressure Zones. The sooner this one is passed the better. 

The Justice Department has a raft of legislation it wants to get passed this session, including the Crime Procedure Bill, which will reduce the timeframe and delays in ‘white collar crime’ trials. There is also the Gaming and Lotteries Bill which will provide for better promotion of local gaming and lotteries, for instance, like competitions run by local sports clubs. 

There’s been a lot of talk in the last year about the gender pay gap. Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan announced earlier this year that Ireland will legislate for it, and this will come in the form of the Gender Pay Gap Information Bill which will establish the mandatory reporting obligation on companies to report on gender pay gap differences in their companies. This has been flagged that it will impact firms with 500 or more employees, however the Taoiseach has indicated that this is just the starting point and that smaller companies could be included at a later date. 

Noise at the airport due to the new runway that is planned is also to be dealt with through the Airport Noise Regulator Bill. This will put in place noise-related operating restrictions at Dublin Airport. 

While the government has enacted 81 Bills since taking office in May 2016, there are over 250 Private Members’ Bills stuck in the system.

These are Bills that are generally put forward by members of the opposition, and in the past, never made it very far due to the government having the numbers to block such Bills.

However, with ‘new politics’ at play, many of these Bills make it on to Second Stage, only to be left languishing. 

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    Oct 12th 2023, 7:26 AM

    Amazing how the US sends it’s warships around the world it’s called a show of strength. Yet when others do the same it’s an act of aggression. There up to something.

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    Mute Fred North
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    Oct 12th 2023, 8:15 AM

    @: *They’re

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    Oct 12th 2023, 9:20 AM

    Well if I were an Israeli or South Korean, I’d feel better knowling there was a US carrier group anchored off my coast.

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    Oct 12th 2023, 12:22 PM

    Gunboat diplomacy.

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    Mute Dave Barrett
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    Oct 12th 2023, 7:45 AM

    The world is going into melt down. Conflict everywhere.

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    Mute Eamon
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    Oct 12th 2023, 7:36 AM

    That’s it, poke the bear.

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    Oct 12th 2023, 9:00 AM

    I’ve done extensive research and can’t seem to find anywhere, the exact date and time that the treaty was signed that the USA were assigned leaders of the world. They must have just assumed it.

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    Mute Zionist Shill
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    Oct 12th 2023, 9:05 AM

    @: You obviously didn’t get our memo.

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    Oct 12th 2023, 9:11 AM

    Who else is going to do it? Chibna? Rhw UN?

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    Mute Jack Moss
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    Oct 12th 2023, 1:41 PM

    @: if Ireland was invaded tomorrow you be all wondering when the yanks where landing in Shannon and coming to your rescue . Liberating the Irish people GOOD. Liberating the Afghan people bad . American soldiers dying for Ireland GOOD . American soldiers dying for Afghan people BAD .

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    Mute Sean
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    Oct 12th 2023, 3:00 PM

    @Jack Moss: Oh yes. They liberated those Afghani real good! And those poppy fields got liberated too.. Thank God for our boys in the US and British army. Tally ho!

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    Oct 12th 2023, 3:13 PM

    @Sean: Actually it was 40 countries that made up ISAF . There is no guaranteed any military operation is going to work . If you are scared of failure then you will never achieve anything . Thank god the rest of the world didn’t think like the Irish do otherwise the Nazis would have won WW2 . South korea would be an extension of N Korea . Millions would have died in the Balkans from ethnic cleansing . The civil war in Sierra Leon would stil be happening .

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    Oct 12th 2023, 3:23 PM

    @Jack Moss: you’d think after 20 years & how many innocent civilians that had to die it might have worked. Back to square one though

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    Mute Diarmuid Hunt
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    Oct 12th 2023, 7:39 PM

    @Jack Moss: Your cognitive dissonance is showing.

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    Oct 12th 2023, 7:27 AM

    Cant everyone just relax

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    Mute Tomasso San Roque
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    Oct 12th 2023, 7:37 AM

    @: we’ll they could, but there’s weapons to be sold and wealthy donees to be satisfied.

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    Mute Dave Harris
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    Oct 12th 2023, 8:48 AM

    @Tomasso San Roque: well ?

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    Oct 12th 2023, 8:49 AM

    @Dave Harris: we’ll

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    Mute Jack Moss
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    Oct 12th 2023, 1:44 PM

    @Tomasso San Roque: actually weapons and munitions have a shelve life then need replaced . They are normally used for training purposes at the end of their live . You don’t need wars to sell munitions and weapons .

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    Mute mainmsam
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    Oct 12th 2023, 8:40 AM

    This coming from a sitting US President who said that “climate change” is a bigger threat to the world than nuclear war!

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    Mute Dave Harris
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    Oct 12th 2023, 8:54 AM

    @mainmsam: it is ! A nuclear war might or might not kick off – it’s not definite. Climate change is actually happening.

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    Oct 12th 2023, 9:03 AM

    @Dave Harris: what flavours does Koolaid come in these days?

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    Oct 12th 2023, 9:30 AM

    @Dave Harris: good man Dave

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    Oct 12th 2023, 12:26 PM

    @mainmsam: to be fair, he’s changing that. Nuclear war has become a greater threat in the last 3 years.

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    Oct 12th 2023, 7:55 AM

    Armageddon is coming, repent

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    Mute John Sheahan
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    Oct 12th 2023, 2:36 PM

    @: we’ll at least we will finally have a World Cup in our hands before it’s lights out.

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    Mute F2yxfluD
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    Oct 12th 2023, 7:54 AM

    Stop winding the guy up

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    Mute Caoimín Ó Muircheartaigh
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    Oct 12th 2023, 10:10 AM

    According to the Journal Russia has exhausted its ammunition. No evidence of this claim while Russia is chasing Nato officers/UAF out of bunkers Then we’ve a quote from Trump blaming Biden for handling the crisis in Israel/Palestine and a counter-response from a nobody working for Biden.
    Russia lost Moskva to a missile. The Ronald Reagan is made of 70k tonnes of steel. They all sink if you hit the spot. The Journal makes for tabloid reading with its opinions, so long as you get the facts from somewhere else, but that won’t be in the Western mainstream media.

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    Mute Tom Newell
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    Oct 12th 2023, 10:04 AM

    Just what the world doesnt need right now….

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    Oct 12th 2023, 11:06 AM

    @Tom Newell: it’s exactly what the world needs. When your neighbourhood is rioting, you need more police, not less.

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    Mute James Brohan
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    Oct 12th 2023, 10:26 AM

    These aircraft carriers are sitting ducks even for NK’s limited military.

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    Oct 12th 2023, 11:49 AM

    @James Brohan: let’s see if the North Koreans would like to test that theory.

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    Oct 12th 2023, 8:52 AM

    I see the little rata Putin is creeping out of his nest in Moscow. Be a nice change of scene from his bugout bunker in St.Peterburg.

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    Oct 12th 2023, 9:02 AM

    @honey badger: You should travel over there and confront him, let us know how you get on.

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    Oct 12th 2023, 9:03 AM

    @honey badger: the likely hood of you leaving your bugout bunker is increasing daily with the fact it’s day 5 since the last article about the Ukraine war. Amazing how quickly the world moved on isn’t it?

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    Oct 12th 2023, 9:13 AM

    @: lol ffs.

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    Oct 12th 2023, 9:14 AM

    @honey badger: when are you going over to escort Russia off Ukraine’s premises?

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    Oct 12th 2023, 9:15 AM

    @Is it 5 days since yesterday already?
    Silly.

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    Oct 12th 2023, 9:30 AM

    @honey badger: No article on the Ukraine war yesterday. The article was about how they may have found an informer who gave up information. Nothing about the actual war or the daily updates of Russia killing people, or Zelensky out with his begging bowl in 5 days. Must be terrible for you not having anywhere “show your support” to Ukraine by insulting people.

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    Oct 12th 2023, 9:42 AM

    @: You’re right, the article about identifying traitors who helped Russia murder over 50 ukrainian civilians has absolutely nothing to do with Russias invasion of Ukraine.
    Clown, lol.

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    Oct 12th 2023, 12:23 PM

    @honey badger: There’s the insults again. I’m sure Zelensky feels the support when you type them here.

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    Mute Dominic Leleu
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    Oct 12th 2023, 7:39 AM

    Show off

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    Mute Luka Roche
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    Oct 12th 2023, 9:57 AM

    I think WW3 is brewing in the background as the decade of 2020 to 2029 has brought a wars with Russia/Ukraine, Israel/Palestine

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    Oct 12th 2023, 7:48 AM

    “negative ghost Rider, the pattern is full”

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    Mute Ham Hat
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    Oct 12th 2023, 4:29 PM

    Why the Comment section is open?

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    Mute K H
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    Oct 13th 2023, 2:37 AM

    It’s kicking off everywhere..Ukraine , Syria , Yemen, Palestine/Israel , The Korea’s, China / Taiwan …. the lobbyists on the hill and the weapons traders and manufacturers must think they’ve hit the jackpot .. enjoy the champagne and fine dining, while the rest of us watch the world go up in flames on our 4K Hi definition surround sound 55inch TV’s… humanity, destined to destroy itself.. but nevermind, just keep shopping. Oh dear

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