THE GOVERNMENT has published fewer than half the Bills that were promised during the summer session of the Dáil.
Only six of the 14 Bills slated for publication have been published, the Government Chief, Whip John Curran has confirmed.
Among the Bills that have yet to be published are the Dublin Mayoral Bill; the Biological Weapons Bill; and four Bills that were sponsored by the Department of Justice.
The reasons that so few of the scheduled Bills were published, said Mr Curran, was because of a glut of unexpected legislation that had to be rushed through the Oireachtas since the Easter recess.
He said that nine Bills in all had been published by Government, most of which have not only been published but have also passed through the Dáil and the Seanad and have become law.
They included two pieces of legislation that were needed to facilitate the EU’s response to the Greek financial crisis and the creation of the European financial stability fund. Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern also brought forward emergency legislation to deal with so-called “legal highs” by means of psychotropic substance legislation.
There was also an unscheduled Bill that ensured there were no bars to the publication of reports on children who died in the care of the State. Two other pieces of legislation postponed Údarás na Gaeltachta elections for two years and facilitated the sale of alcohol at the soon-to-opened National Convention Centre.
Mr Curran said this weekend that a number of the other listed Bills should be published shortly. They include the Criminal Justice (Defence and the Dwellings) Bill, which proposes more rights for people in defending their homes. The Education (Patronage) Bill, which will allow the Vocational Educations Committees to become patrons of primary schools, is also due for publication.
The Mayoralty Bill is expected to be approved by Cabinet for publication next week after the Taoiseach Brian Cowen returns from a visit to the US.
“I would have been unhappy if only six of the 14 were published and nothing else,” said Mr Curran.
“But you can see there were nine unscheduled Bills. Many of them were taken and completed in full.
“You have to have the flexibility that when priorities change you adapt for that,” he added.
The spokesman for the Labour Party said that the 50 per cent success rate in publishing Bills on the “A” list was par for the course for recent years.
