Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The following are the legislative provisions under my remit that have been passed by the Oireachtas and have yet to come into effect. The first is the Construction Contracts Act 2013, the aim of which is to have a new system which will both reduce the non-payment exposure of subcontractors and provide an effective remedy for them should non-payment occur. The Bill passed all Stages in the Houses of the Oireachtas in July 2013 and was signed into law on 29 July 2013.  Two further steps are necessary for the operation of the legislation prior to its commencement. The first, a comprehensive code of practice for the conduct of adjudication, has been the subject of consultation with the key stakeholders. The final draft of the code of practice was circulated to stakeholders in March. The second element requires the establishment of a panel of adjudicators and that will be done as soon as the discussions are concluded with key stakeholders.

The other legislative measure is the Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Act 2014, the main purpose of which, as the Deputy knows because we went through it in some detail here, is to make certain changes to what had become known as the party leader's allowance.  The allowance has been payable to leaders of qualifying parties since 1938, to Independent Deputies since 1996, and to Independent Senators since 2001. Sections 1 and 5 of the Act have come into effect. The remaining sections come into effect on 1 July next, as per the Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Act 2014 (Commencement) Order 2014, SI 210 of 2014, and the Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices Act 1938 (Sections 10A, 10B, 10C and 10D) (Fixed Day) Order 2014, SI 211 of 2014. Section 6 provides that commencement of the Act would be subject to a ministerial order, or orders, as necessary. As the Act, for the first time, imposes a significant obligation on Independent Members of the Oireachtas to provide substantial information to the Standards in Public Office Commission, I decided to afford the appropriate lead-in time to 1 July for that to happen, and that is why the commencement date for that provision is 1 July.

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