A major Bill to abolish the board of the Health Service Executive forms the centrepiece of the Government’s legislation programme for the new term.
The HSE Governance Bill is a detailed and complex Bill that also provides for the alternative governance structures for the health services (including the seven regional bodies) that have already been set out by Minister for Health James Reilly.
The Bill is one of 26 that were unveiled this afternoon by Government Chief Whip Paul Kehoe, all scheduled to be published between now and the end of the Easter break.
Three of the Bills give effect to the Government’s plan to abolish or merge some 48 State agencies. The Local Government Services Corporate Bodies Bill includes will include new powers facilitate the re-organisation, merger or abolition of State agencies and will also allow a county manager to manage more than one local authority.
The Houses of the Oireachtas Commission (Amendment) Bill will allow the State’s translation services, including those who maintain the standard for the Irish language (An Caighdeán Oifigiúil), to be absorbed into the Oireachtas administration. The Civil Defence Bill will abolish its board and return responsibilities for its operations to the Department of Defence.
The ‘A’ list of priority Bills also include two pieces of legislation which are conditions of the bailout programme with the EU and the IMF.
They are the Fiscal Responsibility Bill which puts fiscal policy reforms – including the establishment of the Fiscal Advisory Council – on a statutory basis. The other is the Personal Insolvency Bill which will replace Ireland’s antiquated bankruptcy laws and considerably shorten the period of bankruptcy and restrictions from 12 years (and five years in certain instances). Only 29 bankruptcies were authorised by the Courts in Ireland in 2010 compared to 1,400 in Northern Ireland, where the period of insolvency is only one year.
Two other Bills are enabling pieces of legislation for the European Stability Mechanism (the permanent and enlarged EU bailout fund) agreed by EU leaders last July.
A further four Bills give effect to changes announced in the Budget.
They include the Motor Vehicle Act which puts increases in motor taxes on a permanent basis and the Betting Bill, which will capture “remote” betting (online betting) as part of the tax structure. The standard Bills to give effect to budgetary changes, the Finance Bill and the Social Welfare Bill, will also be published.
In all, nine of the Bills on the ‘A’ list are hold-overs from last term. They include a number of delayed Bills which provide for safeguarding of children arising from reports on child sexual abuse.
Several Bills have slipped down on the priority list. The Climate Change Bill is now on the C list with a publication date of 2013. In addition, amendments to the Freedom of Information Act, are also on the C List. Though publication is expected in 2012, it is more likely not to materialise until 2013.