The Government has improved its record of publishing legislation in line with promised targets, but at least a third of earmarked Bills have yet to materialise.
Of 42 Bills on the high-priority A list for the spring and summer term this year, 26 have been published, with 16 still at various stages of drafting.
In addition, three other Bills – not scheduled in January – have been published. Each of these three was of a technical or urgent nature.
The strike rate of about two- thirds compares favourably with previous terms where the Government struggled to get even half of the promised Bills on the A list published.
In response to the poor record, Government chief whip Paul Kehoe changed strategy early this year.
Instead of setting out a programme for each seasonal or three-month term, he set out a programme for the first eight months of the year, containing a higher number of Bills but with a longer lead-in time for each department to make good on their promises.
In addition, the programme is also far more modest than previous programmes during the Coalition’s term in office. The result has been a sharp increase in published Bills.
However, while the success rate is much higher, some 16 of the 42 Bills contained in the A list had been carried over from previous terms.
Lower strike rate
Some of the Bills – including the Children First Bill; the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Bill; the Consumer and Competition Bill; and the Workplace Relations Bill – have been hanging around for a few terms. Most of the carry-overs have now been published and the corollary will be a much lower strike rate for the new list published in the autumn.
It is also evident that the higher percentage was helped by a late surge of publications in July and early August, with 13 of the Bills published in the past four weeks.
Some of the more ambitious pieces of legislation have been published during the session, including the legislation to provide GP care for under-sixes; the Strategic Bank legislation and the legislation to establish the new Court of Appeal, following the Yes vote in last October’s referendum.
However, a few other prominent pieces of promised legislation have yet to be published, including the establishment of a judicial council.
The council was first mooted well over a decade ago and the planned legislation proposes to “provide effective remedies for complaints about judicial misbehaviour including lay participation in the investigation of complaints.”
Another potentially controversial Bill is the Family Relationship and Children Bill, which deals with reform of the law relating to guardianship, custody of and access to children. As yet unpublished, it will also address issues of parentage, including assisted reproduction and surrogacy.
The Bill will also “make express provision for the use of DNA tests to determine parentage and to provide for connected matters.”
Another of major Bill from Justice will essentially enable former Magdalene home residents to avail of restorative justice and recompense.
One very significant Bill published this term will provide for the plain packaging of tobacco products, following the lead of Australia. This legislation became a personal project for former minister James Reilly in the teeth of sustained opposition from the tobacco industry.
Justice controversies
During Alan Shatter’s period as minister, the Department of Justice was one of the most active in producing new legislation. However, its record for 2014 is the worst of any department.
That reflects the series of controversies and scandals that beset Justice this year, which resulted the resignations of Shatter, former Garda commissioner Martin Callinan and the departure of secretary general Brian Purcell.
The C list contains proposed legislation where the the Heads of Bills (draft texts) have yet to be agreed. On this list is the long-promised Climate Change and Low Carbon Development Bill which is due for publication by the end of the year.
In the document containing renewed priorities, both Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Tánaiste Joan Burton both committed to ensure speedy publication of the Bill.
