Tenancy rights, vaping, late-night pubs, new pension scheme to implement several priorities: Minister Hildegard Naughton

The Irish government has confirmed it will implement a number of priorities including tenants' rights, safe access zones, vaping laws, late-night pubs, a new pension system and a ban on conversion therapy. Government Chief Whip Minister Hildegard Naughton today released the new priorities. This session has 19 pieces of legislation for priority publication and 20 pieces of legislation for the priority draft list. 

This term will also see the publication of a new law allowing Limerick City and County to have a directly elected mayor.

The government wants to publish a Public Health (Tobacco and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill in the near future that will ban the sale of e-cigarettes (vaping) to children. The new law will introduce a licensing system for the sale of tobacco and nicotine inhalation products, including e-cigarettes, as well as a ban on the sale of nicotine inhalation products such as e-cigarettes to minors.

When a landlord puts a property up for sale on the government's priority list this summer, tenants may not be given the first right to buy. The aim is to avoid criticism from the opposition that the government had taken no action when the eviction ban was lifted when the Dáil meets in July.

Termination of Pregnancy Services (Safe Access Zones) The Health Bill aims to ensure safe access to places where termination of pregnancy services can be provided. The bill was approved on July 27, 2022, and is undergoing pre-legislative scrutiny.

The government also needs to pass the Energy (Windfall Gains in Energy Sector) Bill to use the money from the windfall tax. The aim is to use the money collected and put it back into people's pockets, although the details of how this will be done are yet to be set.

It also aims to reform Ireland's planning legislation, with the Planning and Development Bill aimed at improving and speeding up housing.

The government will also publish the Civil Service Regulations (Amendment) Bill, which will stipulate that serious disciplinary action, including dismissal, in the civil service can be delegated below the level of the head of the organization.

In the Pensions Bill, the automatic enrolment retirement saving system will manage the ticking time of Irish pensions through a new auto-enrolment pension system underpinning the bill.

Gender equality will be established in the constitution and the reference to 'household women' will be removed. The department recently convened an interdepartmental committee to finalize the text of a referendum. Publication of the Justice Department's Domestic, Sexual, and Gender-Based Violence Agency bill is also expected soon.

Licensing changes to allow nightclubs to stay open until 6am and pubs until 12.30pm in summer 2023 are a priority. Legislation to reform Ireland's libel laws and the Liquor Bill will be drawn up. This would allow changes to the licensing system and allow nightclubs to open late at night, which the minister had indicated would be implemented this summer.

Special legislation should be drafted to provide support for survivors of abuse in residential institutions and to dissolve the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Board.

There will be improvements to the drafting of maternity leave and the way Ireland's nursing home system operates. Conversion cures and practices will be banned in Ireland.

Conversion therapies will be banned What is conversion therapy?

Sometimes trying to change one's sexual orientation or gender identity. In practice, that means trying to prevent or suppress someone from being gay, or from identifying as a different gender than their gender recorded at birth. These can include talking cures and prayers, but more extreme forms include exorcisms, physical violence, and deprivation of food.

Various professional bodies currently warn that all forms of conversion therapy are "unethical and harmful".