Irish Law - Legislation

Approximately forty Acts of the Oireachtas are passed each year. These are available in print from the Government Supplies Agency, which is part of the Office of Public Works - see contact details on the Irish Legal Publishers page.

In electronic form there are various sources:

• The British and Irish Legal Information Institute (Bailii)
  Currently this site offers Acts as enacted from 1922 to date. Amendments are not incorporated into legislation, so great care must be taken in using this site to search for subsequent amendments of the Acts. Some sections of pre-1922 legislation which continues to apply in Ireland may be found by going to the Northern Ireland part of the Bailii site at www.bailii.org/nie/legis/num_act. An example is the Partnership Act 1890.
• The Irish Legal Information Initiative  (Irlii)
  This site, managed by Dr John Mee of University College Cork Law Faculty, complements UCC's contribution to the Bailii project by providing recent Irish Acts.
• The Attorney General’s Office - www.irishstatutebook.ie 
  This site provides access to the Acts from 1922 to date and crucially also the Legislation Directory, which lists amendments to date. It is also possible to a certain extent to see whether a particular section of an Act is actually in force by checking the Commencement Orders section of the Legislation Directory.
• The Houses of the Oireachtas
  Here you will find all Acts passed from 1992 to date, as well as all Bills published from 1997 to date. The site lists legislative history of Bills to date, including links to all relevant Parliamentary debates.

Most subordinate legislation is made by Government Ministers under powers conferred on them by Acts. Approximately 500 pieces of subordinate legislation are passed per year. Electronic access is provided at the following sites:

• The British and Irish Legal Information Institute  (Bailii)
  Contains subordinate legislation passed from 1922 to date. There is no list of amendments.
• The Attorney General’s Office - www.irishstatutebook.ie. 
  Offers Subordinate Legislation from 1922 to date. There is no easy way to find out whether a piece of subordinate legislation is still in force or has been amended. Some assistance is provided in print form by Richard F. Humphreys’ Index to Irish Statutory Instruments (3 volumes, 1988)
• Selected Statutory Instruments 2002 to date are available on the Irish Legal Information Initiative (Irlii) website. 

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