Heads of state from EU countries, the UK Prime Minister, and leaders from other non-EU European nations are set to travel to Ireland next year during its six-month presidency of the European Union.
Ireland will officially assume the presidency on 1 July, reports RTE.
These visits will coincide with an informal European Council meeting and a European Political Community (EPC) Summit, which will also include European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen.
The EPC was formed in 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, creating a platform for dialogue among all European countries, reports RTE.
The Cabinet will today be updated by Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris, who will confirm that plans are underway to host both events in the same week, in addition to 22 informal EU ministerial meetings over the presidency period, which ends on 31 December.
Mr Harris is also expected to outline the potential for Ireland to host the first-ever European Housing Summit during this time, reports RTE.
The idea for the housing summit was originally proposed by Ms Von Der Leyen in her recent State of the Union address.
Ministers will be informed that a public consultation will soon begin to help shape Ireland’s priorities for the EU presidency, with input sought from the general public, trade unions, the business sector, and civil society, reports RTE.
Separately, Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan will request Cabinet approval for the Criminal Law Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Bill, which proposes replacing the term “child pornography” with “child sexual abuse material” in Irish legislation.
The change aims to better reflect the criminal nature of sexual abuse involving minors, noting that “pornography” typically refers to consensual sexual activity between adults that is generally lawful, reports RTE.
The bill will also introduce a Domestic Violence Register.
Named ‘Jennie’s Law’ in honour of murder victim Jennie Poole, this register will publicly list individuals convicted of domestic violence offences, reports RTE.
Minister O’Callaghan will further update ministers on new child maintenance guidelines and a forthcoming maintenance calculator.
The new guidelines will align with factors courts consider in maintenance rulings—such as the income of parents, child-rearing costs, and parenting time split—while the calculator will offer users an estimate of expected maintenance, reports RTE.
Minister for Housing James Browne will also present Cabinet with data collected from local authorities regarding the compulsory purchase of vacant and derelict properties across 2022 and 2023.
The data outlines the number of properties identified and those acquired through Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPO), with figures varying by region, reports RTE.
He will propose that this data be released annually to support the national strategy of repurposing empty properties into residential homes.
Mr Browne will also deliver the findings of the Storm Éowyn response review, carried out by the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management, to Cabinet, reports RTE.
The review assesses the effectiveness of humanitarian aid delivery, infrastructure durability, and the readiness of local authorities to activate Community Support Centres during emergencies.
A formal plan, informed by the review, to handle future extreme weather events will be published in the coming days, reports RTE.
Finally, Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers will advise ministers of an upcoming review of Ireland’s public spending rules.
These rules have not been updated in 17 years, and the review will aim to improve fiscal discipline while enhancing transparency and accountability in state financial decision-making, reports RTE.
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