The government’s chief whip, Hildegarde Naughton, yesterday published the summer legislative programme containing 39 bills for publication and priority drafting by ministers in the forthcoming Oireachtas session.

“The summer legislative programme will see the publication and priority drafting of many important pieces of legislation in areas such as safe access zones, automatic enrolment, windfall gains in the energy sector, gender equality, gender-based violence and housing,” Ms Naughton said.

“Our aim in delivering on the summer legislative programme is to continue to provide stability in a time of continued uncertainty. This programme will build upon support provided for families, businesses and pensioners whilst also ensuring the continued delivery of the programme for government.”

Bills which feature in the programme include the Safe Access Zones Bill, which will establish protest-free zones around abortion clinics, and the Public Health (Tobacco and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill, which will ban the sale of e-cigarettes to children.

The most significant justice bill in the programme is the Domestic, Sexual and Gender Based Violence Agency Bill, which forms part of the government’s third national strategy on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence.

Ms Naughton said: “This bill will establish an agency with responsibility for coordinating government actions to tackle domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, including the delivery of services to victims and increasing the availability of emergency accommodation.”

The general scheme of the bill was approved by ministers last month.