The Courts, Civil Law, Criminal Law and Supperannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024 will make the necessary amendments to the Judicial Council Act 2019 after the court ruled in April that the sections relating to the making of the guidelines are unconstitutional as they undermine judicial independence.

The bill will provide that the personal injuries guidelines in force immediately before the coming into operation of the bill shall, notwithstanding the provisions of the Act, continue in force without amendment until amendments to the guidelines are adopted under the revised procedures specified in the bill.

It will also provide that any new version of the personal injuries guidelines adopted by the Judicial Council will be approved by resolution by each House of the Oireachtas.

The wide-ranging bill will also increase the mandatory retirement age for uniformed public servants from 60 to 62, increase the maximum fines payable by airline and ferry companies where they fail to check an incoming passenger’s documentation, and increase the maximum penalties upon conviction on indictment for various knife-related offences.

The maximum sentences for ‘possession in a public place of an article intended to cause injury to, incapacitate or intimidate a person’, ‘trespass with a knife, weapon of offence or other article which has a blade or sharp point’ and ‘production of an article capable of inflicting serious injury’ will all increase from five years to seven years.

The maximum sentence for ‘manufacture, sale, hire etc of offensive weapons (of such description as may be specified by ministerial order)’ will increase from seven years to 10 years.

Justice minister Helen McEntee said: “We are increasing knife crime sentences to reflect the seriousness of the crime, one of a number of sentencing increases I have introduced.

“I have doubled the maximum sentence for assault causing harm, increased the maximum sentence for conspiracy to murder to life, and increase the maximum sentence for assaulting a peace officer.”