Bills from my Department are drafted by the Office of Parliamentary Counsel on foot of a general scheme prepared by the Department which has been approved by Government.
Since 27 June 2020 my Department has not published any Bills.
The following two Bills which were published before 27 June 2020 are currently progressing through the parliamentary process:
1. Defence Forces (Forensic Evidence) Bill 2019;
2. Defence (Amendment) Bill 2020.
In general, legislation emanating from the Department of Defence is focused on the Defence Forces only and does not apply to the ordinary citizen or to business. For this reason, it was considered that a formal regulatory impact assessment was not needed in relation to the above-mentioned bills. Notwithstanding this, my Department applies the principles set out in the Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) Guidelines issued by the Department of the Taoiseach where appropriate.