The Government Chief Whip has this afternoon oonfirmed the legislative programme for Spring 2012.

SECTION A


Bills expected to be published from the start of the Dáil Session to the beginning of the next Session


Agriculture Fisheries and the Marine 1 Animal Health and Welfare Bill To consolidate and update existing legislation in the areas of animal health and welfare, including the repeal of several extant statutes

Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht

2 Houses of the Oireachtas Commission (Amendment) Bill To amend the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Acts 2003 - 2009 in relation to the rationalisation of the State's translation services and An Caighdeán Oifigiúil, responsibility for which are to be transferred to the Houses of the Oireachtas

Children and Youth Affairs

3 Children First Bill To implement the Programme for Government commitment related to 'Children First'

Defence

4 Civil Defence (Repeal) Bill To repeal the Civil Defence Act 2002, to dissolve the Civil Defence Board and transfer its functions, property, rights, liabilities and other responsibilities back to the Department of Defence

Education and Skills

5 Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Bill To provide for the establishment of a Statutory Fund to support the needs of former residents of residential institutions, to dissolve the Education Finance Board and to provide for related matters

Environment Community and Local Government

6 Local Government Services Corporate Bodies (Amendment) Bill To remove any legal doubt as to the constitutionality of any new body established under the 1971 Act and to facilitate the re-organisation, merger or abolition of State agencies as referred to and recommended in the Report "Transforming Public Services", Budget 2009 and the Report of the Special Group on Public Service Expenditure Programmes. The bill will also enable the appointment of a manager for more than one local authority.

7 Motor Vehicle (Duties and Licences) Bill To provide a permanent legislative basis for the Budget increases in motor tax rates

Finance

8 Betting (Amendment) Bill To amend the Betting Act 1931 with the object of bringing remote betting (including betting exchanges) within the existing regulatory framework and to make some incidental amendments generally to bookmakers' licensing arrangements

9 Finance Bill To give statutory effect to Budget Day decisions and to make other changes to tax law

10 Fiscal Responsibility Bill To provide a statutory basis for a range of fiscal policy and expenditure management reforms

11 Treaty Establishing the European Stability Mechanism Bill To enable Ireland to ratify the Treaty establishing the European Stability Mechanism

Foreign Affairs and Trade

12 European Communities Act 1972 (Amendment) Bill To provide for the amendment of the definition of the “treaties governing the European Communities” to include reference to the Protocol on transitional measures concerning composition of the European Parliament and to the Treaty establishing the European Stability Mechanism

Health

13 Clotting Factor Concentrates and other Biological Agents Bill To allow St. James's Hospital, at which the National Haemophilia Centre is based, to procure and supply the national stocks of clotting factor concentrate products, which are used in the treatment of haemophilia and other clotting factor disorders

14 Health and Social Care Professionals (Amendment) Bill To amend the 2005 Act to change the current provisions regarding the professional membership of the HSCPC and to make other technical amendments

15 HSE Governance Bill To provide for the abolition of the HSE Board and to provide for replacement governance structures

Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

16 Temporary Partial Credit Guarantee Bill To introduce a temporary (three year) partial credit guarantee scheme, designed to target specific market failures that prevent bank lending to some commerically viable businesses by providing a level of guarantee to banks against losses on qualifying loans to job-creating firms

Justice and Equality

17 Criminal Justice (Withholding Information on Crimes against Children and Intellectually Disabled Person) Bill To create a criminal offence of withholding information relating to the commission of a serious offence, including a sexual offence, against a person under 18 years or an intellectually disabled person

18 Europol Bill To give effect to a Council Decision establishing Europol and to repeal and replace the Europol Acts 1997 and 2006

19 Mental Capacity Bill To reform the law on mental capacity, taking into account the Law Reform Commission's Report on Vulnerable Adults and the law

20 National Vetting Bureau Bill To establish the National Vetting Bureau and to provide for vetting of applicants for certain employment and to provide for related matters

21 Personal Insolvency Bill To provide for a new framework for settlement and enforcement of debt and for personal insolvency

22 Spent Convictions Bill To provide that in the case of convicted persons whose sentence is below a specific threshold, they may, under certain circumstances, withhold details of the conviction

Public Expenditure and Reform

23 Statute Law Revision Bill To repeal all remaining obsolete Local and Personal Acts and Private Acts passed prior to independence in 1922

24 Valuation Act 2001 (Amendment) Bill To make changes to the legislation to allow for acceleration of the revaluation programme and other technical issues

Social Protection

25 Social Welfare and Pensions Bill To provide for further amendments to the Social Welfare Acts arising from Budget 2012, to make amendments to the social welfare code arising from policy, administrative or operational matters, to provide for the transposition of requirements under Directive 2010/41/EU to cover spouses/partners of self-employed workers for social insurance and maternity benefit purposes and to provide for amendments to the Pensions Act relating to defined benefit pension provision

Transport Tourism and Sport

26 Road Traffic Bill To provide for Commerical Vehicle Roadworthiness Testing Reform and centralisation of driver licensing function in Road Safety Authority