The Government is trying to arrange extra Dβil sittings before Christmas to pass up to 10 new measures dealing with international crime and terrorism into Irish law.
The Taoiseach announced yesterday that there were "some 10 legislative measures, plus a number of conventions that will have to be dealt with quite soon". These related to international conventions and protocols agreed to by Ireland over the past decade or more, which have not yet been formally transposed into Irish law.
The most significant change is expected to be contained in a new Extradition Bill, to be published by the Minister for Justice in this Dβil session. The Bill arises from both European Union and United Nations commitments, according to a spokesman for the Department of Justice.
Other conventions and agreements on the agenda cover measures to improve international police and justice co-operation.
The Government agreed to speed up their transposition into Irish law in response to the terrorist attacks on the United States, on September 11th.
Mr Ahern told the Dβil yesterday that he had already spoken to the other party whips with a view to arranging Dβil meetings on Mondays and Fridays to consider the new measures.
The Dβil usually sits only on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
"There is an enormous amount of Bills that will have to be enacted", Mr Ahern said.
"We have to provide time to deal with them and we will need co-operation to do that. The first one is ready but there is a whole series of them.
"We will have to deal with up to 10 of them one after the other. I hope everyone will facilitate their speedy ratification."
The 15 EU Heads of State and Government will review progress made towards greater police and judicial co-operation at a European Council meeting in Ghent, Belgium, on Friday week. The 15 hope to finalise a package of EU-wide measures on crime and terrorism, before the December EU Summit in Laeken, Belgium.
There are concerns among some Ministers that some of the measures under consideration contravene Irish law. There is concern, for example, that proposals to harmonise extradition requirements could contravene the Irish requirement that a prima facie case be established against a suspect before he or she is extradited from Ireland.
Talks are continuing in Brussels between senior Government officials to try to reach agreement on a wide range of measures before December.