The Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications has released critical geophysical data to support participants in the upcoming ‘Tonn Nua’ offshore wind auction. This second auction, set to procure 900 MW of clean energy off the Waterford coast, will be the first held within a Designated Maritime Area Plan (DMAP). The recently approved South Coast DMAP identifies four maritime areas for offshore renewable energy development, aligning with Ireland's plan-led approach to achieving its target of 5GW offshore wind capacity by 2030. The government has also implemented measures to facilitate co-existence between offshore projects and fishing communities, making Ireland the first EU country to place equivalent statutory co-existence obligations on offshore renewable energy developers.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has released the findings of its October 2024 survey on legal entity identifiers. The survey, which garnered 136 responses from 26 countries, aimed to assess the impact of including alternative identifiers for reporting, disclosure, and record-keeping requirements. Results indicate a strong preference (86%) for the Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) among respondents. The survey also revealed significant costs associated with adapting reporting systems to accommodate additional identifiers, with an average cost of 360,000 Euros per firm. Pan-European associations proposed enhancing EUID automation and its interoperability with LEI to reduce burdens and avoid duplication. ESMA plans to conduct a follow-up workshop with respondents and stakeholders to discuss potential future actions, aligning with its Data Strategy 2023-2028 to promote cost-efficient reporting and explore opportunities to reduce reporting burdens.

The Housing Agency has released its Statement of Strategy 2025 – 2029, marking its first five-year strategic plan and fifth overall strategy since its establishment in 2012. The plan, developed through extensive consultation, outlines three key themes: establishing the Agency as a centre for housing knowledge, addressing housing supply and affordability issues, and supporting the development of sustainable and inclusive communities. This new strategy aims to build upon the Agency's previous achievements whilst responding to current challenges in the Irish housing system. The document provides a framework for the Agency's activities over the next five years as it continues its mission to deliver necessary housing solutions across Ireland.

Due to the unavailability of a Judge for Mulgrave Street, Court 5, on the 10 of June, the majority of the court list will be adjourned to Court 5 on the 9 December 2024 at 10:30am,with the following exceptions: DPP -V- Attila Dalacsi .

The Pensions Authority, Ireland’s pensions regulator, launched a consultation paper on 30 September 2025 proposing new investment rules for Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (PRSAs) to align them more closely with occupational pension scheme requirements. The proposals would require PRSA providers to invest assets predominantly in regulated markets with proper diversification, following a fivefold increase in non-standard PRSA contracts since the Institutions for Occupational Retirement Provision (IORP) II Directive (EU) 2016/2341 transposition. PRSA assets have doubled since 2021 to €20bn by Q2 2025, with non-standard PRSAs representing 66% of total assets. Responses are sought by 17 November 2025.

Ireland—Finance & Financial Services analysis: The Central Bank of Ireland’s (CBI) new Individual Accountability Framework (IAF), which came into force in December 2023, is an important milestone in Irish financial regulation. The SEAR regime, a key pillar of the new framework, applies from July 2024. It brings a targeted focus on compliance by individual personnel of in-scope firms, with defined responsibilities for designated individuals and new conduct standards intended to drive change and improve governance across the sector. The CBI held a detailed consultation process in respect of the new regime and took on board suggestions following that process, with changes reflected in guidance issued by the regulator in late 2023. Much of the commentary during the consultation period focused on how the new scheme would be administered. There was particular concern about the shift from corporate to individual responsibility, and potential for inequality of arms as between individuals seeking fitness and probity clearance, and a powerful regulator that is responsible for making, interpreting, supervising and enforcing the rules. The new framework is designed to ensure that those exercising roles across in-scope firms act in the best interests of customers and the integrity of the market, while meeting clearly laid-out standards of conduct. With individual responsibility central to the effective working of the new framework, a recent decision of the Irish Financial Services Appeals Tribunal (IFSAT) brings the fairness of procedures underlying the CBI’s fitness and probity clearance process into renewed focus.

This article was written by Fiona Campbell of Lexis Nexis UK and Shauna Gillan of the International Protection Appeals Tribunal and considers the developing Irish framework for the use of generative AI (GenAI) in legal practice in Ireland. It examines professional guidance, recent case law and High Court Practice Direction HC142, effective from 1 September 2026, which requires independent human verification of AI-assisted court documents and imposes particular safeguards for evidence and expert reports. The central message is that AI may support legal work, but lawyers retain responsibility for accuracy, confidentiality, privilege and professional judgment.

Introduction Artificial Intelligence (AI) represents both a huge challenge and opportunity for many fields of human endeavour, but especially legal practice and the administration of justice. The law applicable to a particular scenario, and how disputes between parties are determined when they arise, are critical with regard to how people engage with each other and interact as humans. While certainty is important, clarity and transparency with regard to how a legal determination has been reached can be more so. From that perspective, and to ensure those principles can be met, the use of AI in the law must be carefully managed. AI has the potential to save costs and increase speed and efficiency in legal processes. However, such benefits must be carefully balanced against the need to ensure that justice is administered and the law applied fairly and in a transparent manner, not only for the parties involved in a particular dispute, but for society generally, so that all may have confidence in the legal

The Allied Irish Banks (AIB) and S&P Global Construction Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for June 2025 shows construction activity declining for the second consecutive month, with the index falling to 48.6 from 49.2 in May. Commercial construction remained the only growing sector, while housing and civil engineering activity contracted. The report indicates new orders increased for the fifth consecutive month, though employment growth slowed to its lowest rate in four months. Construction firms maintained positive outlook despite economic uncertainty, with expectations of improved housing demand.

Law360: Irish lender AIB said 6 March 2024 that it plans to return €1.7bn to shareholders, including the Irish state, to reduce the government's crisis-era bailout stake in the bank.

This Practice Note discusses the accessibility statements which are required to be implemented and made available by providers of in-scope services to consumers, pursuant to the Directive (EU) 2019/882 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on the accessibility requirements for products and services (European Accessibility Act) (EAA) in Ireland. The EAA establishes harmonised minimum accessibility standards for specified products and services across the EU, with the overarching objective of enabling persons with disabilities to access products and use services on an equal basis with others. The EAA was transposed into Irish law by SI No 636/2023 European Union (Accessibility Requirements of Products and Services) Regulations 2023 (Ireland) (SI 636/2023 (IRL)), which took effect on 28 June 2025. This Practice Note covers the following matters: • the Irish legal framework governing accessibility statements • which service providers are required to publish an accessibility statement • the mandatory content requirements under SI 636/2023 (IRL), Sch 3 • the enforcement regime in Ireland, including

Accessibility statement requirements For further guidance, see Practice Notes: Ireland—Accessibility statements under European Accessibility Act and Ireland—The European Accessibility Act—Q&As. Use the following checklist to validate compliance with accessibility statement requirements: ✓ Checklist item Further information ☐ 1 Accessibility statement is publicly available in the general terms and conditions or an equivalent document Who must publish: Every provider offering an in-scope service must make publicly available information explaining how the service meets the applicable accessibility requirements. This information is generally referred to as an accessibility statement.Where to publish: The accessibility statement should appear in the provider’s general terms and conditions or an equivalent publicly accessible document.Websites and apps: For a website, the statement should be prominently placed and readily discoverable. For a mobile application, it should be accessible either through the provider’s website or alongside the descriptive information displayed when the application is downloaded from an app store. ☐ 2 Statement is available in accessible format Format: The statement must