Written answers
Thursday, 14 December 2017
Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation
Commencement of Legislation
Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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276. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the Acts, or parts of Acts, awaiting commencement within her area of statutory responsibility; the reason for the delay in the commencement of each; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53561/17]
Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Details of Acts, or parts of Acts, for which I have responsibility and which have not been commenced, and the reasons that commencement orders have not been made, are set out in the table.
Act/Section of Act that has not been Commenced | Reason Commencement Order has not been made |
|---|---|
| Legal Metrology (Measuring Instruments) Act (No. 31 of 2017) | The Legal Metrology (Measuring Instruments) Act 2017 was signed by the President on 28 November 2017. That Act transposes Articles 1 and 3 of Directive 2014/32 EU on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to the making available on the market of measuring instruments. The remainder of that Directive is being transposed by way of Statutory Instrument (S.I.) under section 3 of the European Communities Act 1972. On the advice of the Attorney General, the Act and S.I. must come into effect on the same date. Drafting of the S.I. is virtually completed. Accordingly, I hope to commence the Act and the S.I. later this month. |
| S. 98 of the Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000 | There is no intention to commence this section barring exceptional circumstances |
| S. 199 of the Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000 | There is no intention to commence this section barring exceptional circumstances |
| S. 247 of the Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000 | There is no intention to commence this section barring exceptional circumstances |
| Consumer Protection Act 2007 Sections 48 and 49 | Sections 48 and 49 of the Consumer Protection Act 2007 have not been commenced as the Attorney General has advised that their provisions are incompatible with the maximum harmonisation nature of the Directive on Unfair Commercial Practices which was transposed into Irish law by the Consumer Protection Act 2007. Section 48 prohibits traders, who accept payment for goods and services by different relevant methods (defined as cash, credit card, direct debit, or any other method prescribed by the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation) from imposing an additional charge by reason of customers choosing to pay for goods or services by one relevant method as against another. Section 49 provides that, where it is permissible for a trader to impose a payment charge in accordance with section 48 (i.e. where the trader accepts only one relevant method of payment or imposes the same charge in respect of all relevant methods of payment), the trader must state the price of the goods or service as a single amount inclusive of any such charge. |
| Companies Act 2014 Section 4(2) Section 1325 | Section 4(2) in so far as it relates to Regulation 6 of the EuropeanCommunities (Mergers and Divisions of Companies) (Amendment)Regulations 2011 (S.I. No.306 of 2011) The full repeal of Regulation 6 of the European Communities (Mergers and Divisions of Companies) (Amendment) Regulations 2011 was not possible due to a difference in national law requirements on mergers concerning notice requirements and those provided for in the EU regulations on cross-border mergers. The reason why this section has not commenced is because it would repeal the foundation documents of the Bank of Ireland. The section will only be commenced once Bank of Ireland decides to convert to a company incorporated under the Companies Act 2014. |
| Companies (Accounting Act) 2017 Section 80 | Commencement of this section was delayed to ensure that the new filing requirements of unlimited companies that are registered outside of Ireland are aligned with the new filing requirements on unlimited companies that are registered in Ireland. Section 80 of the 2017 Act amends the definitions of an “EEA company” and a “non-EEA company” in section 1300 of the Companies Act 2014. These definitions are for the purposes of Part 21 of the 2014 Act, which provides for “external companies”. An external company is a company incorporated outside of Ireland with a branch in Ireland. The main change is that the two definitions now extend to external companies registered as companies with unlimited liability but whose members’ liability is in fact limited. As a result, some unlimited companies incorporated outside of Ireland that do not qualify currently as external companies, will, once section 80 is commenced, become classified as external companies and so will be required to comply with the obligations on an external company almost. As a result, some of those companies could have had to provide financial information in respect of financial years earlier than those beginning on 1 January 2017. Under the commencement arrangements for the rest of the Act, a similarly structured company, registered in Ireland, is required to first file financial statements in respect of years that begin on or after 1 January 2017. Delay of section 80 will align the requirements for similar companies, whether registered in Ireland or not. A revised order that will commence the section on 9 June 2018 is being prepared by the OPC. |
| Sections 65 to 70 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 | The Workplace Relations Commission was established on the 1st October 2015 under the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 and saw the merging of the activities of the National Employment Rights Authority, the Labour Relations Commission, the Equality Tribunal and the first instance functions of the Labour Court and the Employment Appeals Tribunal into a new Body of First Instance - the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC). The appellate functions of the Employment Appeals Tribunal were incorporated into an expanded Labour Court. Sections 65 to 70 inclusive of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 relate to the dissolution of the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) and cannot be commenced until the legacy caseload of the EAT has been finalised. The legacy caseload relates to cases submitted prior to the commencement of the Act on 1 October 2015 and has decreased to the point that there are currently less than 100 cases on hands. |
| Subsections (5)(b) and (6) of section 15 of the Employment Permits (Amendment) Act 2014 | Commencement of these provisions will be subject to the outcome of pending consultations. The provisions provide for a portion of the employment permit fee to be refunded to a person nominated by the applicant where the application is withdrawn or refused. Currently, fees are refunded to the applicant only. These provisions may commence when the necessary changes are made to the employment permits processing system to support such a policy change, subject to further consultations. The employment permit processing system has not yet been adapted to support the refund of fees to a person other than applicant. If it is considered necessary to do so, consultation will need to take place with the relevant bodies as regards other legislation and any unintended impact of this provision, e.g. The Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010, as amended, etc. |
| Section 4(2) of Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 (No. 10 of 2005) in respect of the revocation of certain enactments | (i.)Mines and Quarries Act 1965 (in as much as it relates to Mines), Regulations to bring occupational safety and health for mines under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 are currently being settled by the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel and it is hoped will be introduced in 2018 to allow for the introduction of a Commencement Order to enact this subsection of the Act. (ii.)Dangerous Substances Acts 1972 and 1979, The Dangerous Substances regime is subject to an ongoing review and upon completion appropriate legislation will be introduced. (iii.)Safety in Industry Acts 1955 and 1980, Regulations relating to certain work sectors remain to be finalised and brought under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, these are currently with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel to the Government for settlement and it is hoped will be introduced in 2018 to allow for the introduction of a Commencement Order to enact this subsection of the Act. (iv.) Safety, Health and Welfare (Offshore Installations) Acts 1987 and 1995. It is the intention to introduce Regulations under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 to ensure the sector specific provisions are protected and aligned under the umbrella of the Act. |
| Part II of the Dangerous Substances Act 1972 (No. 10 of 1972), Section 7 (1) and the Schedule to that Act in so far as they refer to the Towns Improvement (Ireland) Act 1854, the Explosives Act 1875, the Customs and Inland Revenue Act 1883, the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 and the Revenue Act 1909 Section 7 (2) of that Act, and any other provision of the Dangerous Substances Act 1972, to the extent that the provision is applicable to or for the purposes of explosives within the meaning of section 9 (1) of that Act | There is no intention to introduce a commencement order for these sections as the responsibility for legislation on explosives rests with the Minister for Justice and Equality |
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