In this episode, Senator Barry Ward speaks to Senator Pauline O’Reilly, Vice Chair of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality, which has been established on foot of the recommendations of the Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality (read the report here). The discussion deals not just with what the Committee will do and how it will operate, but how it was established, who is on it, and the time frame within which it hopes to report to the Oireachtas. You can follow the...

In this episode, Senator Barry Ward talks to his Seanad colleague, Independent Senator Eileen Flynn, about her private member’s bill to remove the term “child pornography” from Irish legislation, and replace it with the more appropriate term “child sexual exploitation material”. Also in the podcast are Emer Taylor and Jessica Bray, who worked on the Bill with Senator Flynn. This is a first for Irish legislation because it alters the title of an existing act without repealing it; the Child...

This week, Senator Barry Ward talks ticket touts with former Fine Gael TD Noel Rock, and barrister and law lecturer, James McDermott. The Sale of Tickets (Cultural, Entertainment, Recreational and Sporting Events) Act 2021 all stages and was signed into law last July and is now facing its first real life tests as live events return. Then TD for Dublin North-West, Noel Rock, along with Stephen Donnelly TD , originally sponsored the Prohibition of Above-cost Ticket Touting Bill 2017, which fell...

This week, Senator Barry Ward looks at a private members bill to ban so-called “conversion therapies”, which seek to change a person’s . Barry is joined by one of the sponsors of this cross-party legislation, Senator Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael – Cork South-Central), and practising psychotherapist Stella O’Malley, who is opposed to the bill. You can read the Prohibition of Conversion Therapies Bill 2018 and track its progress here.  Jerry Buttimer was Fine Gael’s first openly gay TD and the...

In Episode 1 of Season 2, Senator Barry Ward talks gender quotas in business and the Irish Corporate Governance (Gender Balance) Bill 2021 with Fine Gael TD for Dublin Mid-West, Emer Higgins, and Orla O’Connor, Director of the National Women’s Council. This episode covers gender quotas, how they will work for boards of Irish companies, how to address gender imbalance and whether gender quotas are a fair approach. Emer Higgins is a Fine Gael TD for Dublin Mid-West and former Chief of Staff,...

A quick recap of season 1 and preview of what's to come on season 2. The Irish Legislation Podcast is presented by Senator Barry Ward. Follow Barry on Twitter @barrymward; Instagram @barrym_ward; Facebook at BarryWard.ie; or his web site: www.barryward.ie. E-mail [email protected] with any comments or suggestions.

In Episode 14, Senator Barry Ward talks electric scooters with Fine Gael Spokesperson on Climate Action and TD for Dublin Fingal, Alan Farrell, Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Dublin and TD for Dublin South-West, John Lahart, and former Chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government and former Fine Gael TD for Dublin North-West, Noel Rock.   This episode goes through the issue of regulating electric scooters and electrically assisted pedal cycles, and other “personal...

This week Senator Barry Ward talks to Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee TD, and criminal barrister Jane McGowan, about the Criminal Procedure Bill 2021, which has passed the Dáil and is just starting its journey through the Seanad.   You can read the Criminal Procedure Bill 2021 here.   You can follow Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee TD (Fine Gael - Meath East) on Twitter @HMcEntee, on Instagram @helenmcentee, on Facebook at HelenMcEnteeTD, and you can learn more about her on her web...

This week Senator Barry Ward talks climate change legislation with former Minister for Communications, Climate Change and the Environment, Richard Bruton TD (Fine Gael – Dublin Bay North), and Attracta Uí Bhroin, Environmental Law Officer with the Irish Environmental Network (IEN), specifically the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021, which is currently before the Dáil. Chair of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Change, Brian Leddin TD (Green Party –...

This week Senator Barry Ward speaks to two new TDs Francis Noel Duffy TD, Green Party TD for Dublin South-West and the Green Party Spokesperson on Housing, and Cian O’Callaghan TD, Social Democrats TD for Dublin Bay North and the Social Democrats Spokesperson on Housing, about the Land Development Agency Bill 2021, which is currently being considered by the Dáil.   You can read Land Development Agency Bill 2021 here: https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/bills/bill/2021/11/ You can follow the...

This week Senator Barry Ward speaks to Senator Rebecca Moynihan (Labour – Administrative Panel - Dublin South-Central), who has sponsored the Period Products (Free Provision) Bill 2021 about what her bill will do to ensure that we avoid period poverty in Ireland and establish a regime whereby simple period products are available to people when they need them. A similar bill, entitled the Free Provision of Period Products Bill 2021, was introduced by Senator Lorraine Clifford-Lee (Fianna Fáil...

Happy Christmas! A number of people have been in touch to ask that we would do an episode about voting in Leinster House. This episode looks briefly at how votes happen in Leinster House (and the Convention Centre), what the bells mean and the different types of vote. Thank you for all your support and loyalty in the last few months; the Irish Legislation Podcast with Barry Ward will return in 2021, when the Houses of the Oireachtas resume sitting in January.   The Irish Legislation Podcast...

This week, Senator Barry Ward speaks to Senator Ivana Bacik (Labour – University of Dublin) about her bill to provide a path to citizenship for children born in Ireland who do not otherwise have a right to citizenship. Barrister-at-Law and immigration law expert, David Leonard also gives the benefit of his experience in this area and his take on what the Bill’s effect will be on the current immigration and naturalisation system. The Irish Nationality and Citizenship (Naturalisation of Minors...

In this episode, Senator Barry Ward is joined by long-standing Wexford TD, former senior Minister and former Leader of the Labour Party, Brendan Howlin, who talks about his private member’s bill, which is currently working its way through Dáil Éireann. First published and debated (at second stage) in 2017, the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill 2017 proposes a number of important criminal, sexual offences, and will be discussed at the Dáil Select Committee on...

In Episode 7, Senator Barry Ward talks to Sinn Féin Housing Spokesperson and Dublin Mid-West TD, Eoin Ó Broin, and Associate Professor of Law at Trinity College Dublin, Dr David Kenny, about the Thirty-ninth Amendment to the Constitution (Right to a Home) Bill 2020, which is currently one of a number of housing private member’s bills before the Houses of the Oireachtas. This episode explores the effects of enshrining a right to housing in the constitution, the purpose of private member’s...

In episode #6, Senator Barry Ward speaks to Neale Richmond TD (Fine Gael – Dublin Rathdown), the Fine Gael Spokesperson on European Affairs, and Noelle O’Connell, Executive Director of European Movement Ireland (EMI), about the Brexit Omnibus Bill 2020, which is currently going through the Houses of the Oireachtas. This legislation will address the multitude of issues arising from the UK exit from the EU, across health, tax, finance, customs, social welfare, justice, extradition, finance,...

Senator Barry Ward talks Seanad reform in Episode 5. Barry is joined by two former TDs: former Leader of Seanad Éireann and current Chancellor of the National University of Ireland, Dr Maurice Manning, and Senator Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fáil – Wexford).  Maurice Manning was a member of the Oireachtas, the Irish parliament, for 21 years, serving as a Senator on the Cultural & Educational Panel in the 15th , 18th, 19th, 21st and 22nd Seanaid, and as TD for Dublin North-East in the 23rd and...

This week’s bill is the controversial Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) Records, and another Matter, Bill 2020, which deals with the pending winding up of the Murphy Commission of Investigation into 14 Mother and Baby Homes, and 4 County Homes, where terrible abuses were perpetrated against people over decades. We’re joined by one of the foremost campaigners for the victims of Mother and Baby Homes, Dr Maeve O’Rourke, who a Lecturer in Human...

This week we talk to Gino Kenny TD (People Before profit - Dublin Mid-West) about the Dying with Dignity Bill 2020, which he has sponsored and which is a revival of former Deputy John Halligan's Dying with Dignity Bill 2015.  Also in discussion are Senator Ronán Mullen (Independent NUI panel), Councillor Sarah Kiely (Fine Gael Limerick City East) and consultant Geriatrician Professor Des O'Neill. Thanks to Dylan Hutchinson for research.

In episode #2 of The Irish Legislation Podcast, Senator Barry Ward talks to Government Chief Whip and Minister of State, Jack Chambers TD, about the published Legislative Programme, the role of the Chief Whip, and the tools that the Government uses to get its agenda through the Houses of the Oireachtas. Minister Chambers also talks about money messages, re-introducing lapsed bills, pre-legislative scrutiny, the Oireachtas Business Committee and new, socially-distant voting procedures in...

Senator Barry Ward talks to Mark O’Doherty about the legislative process, how a bill passes through the Oireachtas to become a law. Mark O’Doherty is a former ministerial adviser and worked in the Government Chief Whip’s Office in Leinster House for over seven years. This episode of The Irish Legislation Podcast examines the five stages of a bill, where bills come from and how they are initiated, private member’s bills, pre-legislative scrutiny, the whip system and the guillotine. E-mail...

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