THE GOVERNMENT has announced that 17 new Bills will be taken in the Dáil summer session which starts today. However, the list was dismissed as an April Fools' joke by the Labour Party, which said that seven items of the Bills listed for publication were also on the list for the last session.
Announcing the list, the Government Chief Whip Tom Kitt said that the Social Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill was among the key pieces of legislation scheduled for publication.
This Bill will provide for a programme of social housing reforms, including an update of local authority powers to deal with anti-social behaviour.
Also on the list is the Child Care Bill amending the Child Care Act of 1991 to provide a statutory scheme for the High Court to have exclusive original jurisdiction to hear special care cases.
The Dublin Transport Authority Bill is expected to be published very early in the session.
Other Bills include the Property Services Regulatory Authority Bill, which will provide for the establishment of a property services regulatory authority to give effect to the report of the Auctioneering/Estate Agency Review Group; the Employment Agency Regulation Bill; the Health (Long-term Residential Care Services) Bill; and the Criminal Justice (Forensic Sampling and Evidence) Bill.
"Since this Government was formed on June 14th, 2007, 19 Bills have been published, 17 enacted. We look forward to further delivering on our programme for government in the weeks and months ahead.
"The session will commence tomorrow with a debate on the Lisbon Treaty," said Mr Kitt, who added that he was determined to have a comprehensive debate with maximum participation.
However, the Labour Party chief whip Emmet Stagg said it was hard to treat with any seriousness the list for the forthcoming Dáil session, given that seven of the 17 Bills on the list were also on the list of those due to be published in the last session.
Among the long previously-promised Bills were the Dublin Transport Authority Bill, which the then minister for transport, Martin Cullen, promised in November 2006 would be published by Christmas of that year, while the Ombudsman (Amendment) Bill had appeared on the list of promised legislation for every Dáil session going back to spring 2003.
"On the other hand, the Irish Sport Council Bill, which was promised for publication in the session prior to the 2007 election, has now fallen off the list and will not be published until sometime in late 2008.
"The National Monuments Bill that was originally promised for late 2003 will not now, apparently, be published before 2009, which suggests that this issue is getting no more priority under a Green Minister than it did under his various Fianna Fáil predecessors," said Mr Stagg.
"One piece of legislation that has been published that the Government seems determined not to take is the Ethics Bill. This was announced by the Taoiseach and the then minister for justice, Michael McDowell, in October 2006 at the start of the controversy about the Taoiseach's finances. It has never been taken in the Dáil."
Mr Stagg said the situation emphasised the need for fundamental Dáil reform which would enable all members of the House to properly plan their work.
"The Government should be able to produce a list of planned legislation at the beginning of each Dáil session setting out the order in which Bills will be taken, and should be required, other than in the case of emergencies, to stick to that list."