This Practice Note is a horizon scanner tracking key future developments in the field of property law in Ireland. It provides details of key dates for your diary (including forecasted dates where the actual date is unknown) and relevant commentary in relation to: • Legislation: ◦ Bills in progress ◦ Acts not in force, partially in force or subject to staged introduction • Other key developments: ◦ Consultations and other policy, regulatory or procedural developments This horizon scanner does not cover past developments, such as legislation fully in force or final judgments. For details of past developments in 2026 the field of property law in Ireland, see Practice Note: Ireland—Property Tracker 2026. This horizon scanner does not cover developments outside Ireland. For more information on developments in the UK and the EU, see: • Practice Notes: Tracker & horizon scanning resources for in-house lawyers and UK Property—horizon scanner • News Analysis: EU Law—key developments in 2025 and horizon scanning for 2026, and • Trackers and horizon scanning (EU Law)—overview Legislation For information

This Practice Note examines what is a protected disclosure for the purposes of the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 (Ireland) (PDA 2014 (IRL)), as amended by the Disclosures (Amendment) Act 2022 (Ireland) (PDAA 2022 (IRL)). This amendment transposed the EU Whistleblowing Directive 2019/1937 into Irish law and broadened the scope of PDA 2014 (IRL) and strengthened protections for workers. This legislation provides a framework for protecting workers who report wrongdoing in their workplace. In Ireland, whistleblowing is formally known as making a protected disclosure. What is a protected disclosure? Under PDA 2014 (IRL), s 5, a ‘protected disclosure’ is when a worker discloses information about actions that they reasonably believe shows or tends to show one or more wrongdoings. Wrongdoings generally include criminal offenses, failure to comply with legal obligations, endangering health and safety, environmental damage, and more. The law protects workers from dismissal, penalisation (ie retaliation), or other sanctions by their employers for making such a disclosure. The legislation on protected disclosures is a protective mechanism for those who wish to disclose information

Introduction Irish law protects a range of intellectual property (IP) rights that will be important across many areas of legal practice. The commercial importance of different IP rights is highly dependent on the nature of particular businesses. The primary function of IP rights is to protect and stimulate innovation, creativity and development, and to ensure that mental efforts and contributions in these areas are recognised and incur rewards for their creators. As a member of the European Union (EU), individuals and businesses located in Ireland benefit from EU protections for IP rights. The doctrine of the supremacy of EU law applies in Ireland and if a conflict arises between national law and EU law, EU law takes precedence. Ireland is a common law jurisdiction, with a legal system is based on common law principles similar to those applying North American, British and Commonwealth jurisdictions, and binding precedent judicial decisions also form part of the applicable law. Ireland’s strong legal and common law framework and advantageous tax regime for the exploitation of IP puts Ireland

This Practice Note is produced in partnership with Síona Molony BL of the Bar of Ireland. What is a protective costs order? The purpose behind a protective costs order is to prevent litigants being precluded from bringing valid claims merely on the basis of the costs involved in doing so. A protective costs order is an order made by the court at an early stage of the proceedings guaranteeing that one party will not be liable for the other party’s costs (known as adverse costs), or that they will only be liable for a certain amount of those costs—regardless of the outcome of the case, subject to the terms of the order and any applicable statutory exceptions. This is unusual, because the order is granted by the court before the case concludes, and without the court having regard to the outcome of the proceedings. A protective costs order has very significant consequences for both parties to proceedings: • for the successful applicant, they are given the comfort that the risk of adverse costs

What is a public company limited by shares? A public company limited by shares (PLC) is a legal entity which is separate and distinct from its members. It is owned by its members who hold shares in the company. It is managed by its directors in line with the provisions of the Companies Act 2014 (Ireland) (CA 2014 (IRL)) and the company’s governing constitutional documents, otherwise known as the memorandum and articles of association. A PLC is a type of business entity wherein the company intends to become publicly listed on a stock exchange. This is done so that the company can offer its shares to the general public. A public limited company has many characteristics of a private limited company with a key difference being that the shares in a public limited company are freely transferable. There are two difference types of PLCs: • those which are investment companies (as defined in CA 2015 (IRL), s 1386) (Investment • any PLC other than an investment company. PLCs which are not Investment Companies

This Practice Note is produced in partnership with Eoin Ó Cuilleanáin of the Barrister-at-Law. Public procurement law in Ireland derives from EU law, and in particular Directive 2014/24/EU (the EU Public Sector Directive), Directive 2014/25/EU (the EU Utilities Directive) and Directive 2014/23/EU (the EU Concession Directive). These Directives have, respectively, been implemented in Ireland by the: • SI No 284/2016 European Union (Award of Public Authority Contracts) Regulations 2016 (Ireland) (SI 284/2016 (IRL)) (Public Authorities Regulations) • SI No 286/2016 European Union (Award of Contracts by Utility Undertakings) Regulations 2016 (Ireland) (SI 286/2016 (IRL)) (Utilities Regulations) • SI No 203/2017 European Union (Award of Concession Contracts) Regulations 2017 (Ireland) (SI 203/2017 (IRL)) (Concessions Regulations) In essence, the Public Authorities Regulations apply to procurement by ‘contracting authorities’, which encompasses public authorities in addition to ‘bodies governed by public law’. The Utilities Regulations apply to procurement by entities engaged in gas and heat; electricity; water; transport; ports and airports; postal services; and the extraction and/or exploration of certain natural resources. These are defined as ‘contracting entities’.

Introduction This Practice Note considers some of the key steps an unsuccessful bidder or tenderer may take after being notified that it has not been awarded an Irish public procurement contract. It explains how to assess and pursue a challenge, including standstill letters and periods, limitation periods, High Court proceedings, automatic suspension and interim measures, and the remedies available before and after contract signature, including setting aside, ineffectiveness, alternative penalties, damages and discovery. For an overview of the Irish public procurement law regime, see Practice Note: Ireland—Public procurement law—fundamental principles. For guidance on EU public procurement, see: EU public procurement (EU Law)—overview. As with any competition or contest, there are almost invariably disappointed tenderers or bidders whenever the results of a public procurement process have been announced. This Practice Note analyses the legal rights of those unsuccessful or disappointed bidders/tenderers. While each case turns on its own facts, this Practice Note analyses the legal remedies which are usually available. It is worth emphasising that there

This Precedent can be published on an organisation’s website or as a press release to let the public know about a data breach or cyber-attack. There is no general obligation under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR) to issue a public statement. However, the EU GDPR provides that where it would involve disproportionate effort to notify affected data subjects individually, such notification is not required but you must instead issue a public communication or similar measure whereby data subjects are informed in an equally effective manner. To satisfy the test that the public statement is equally effective as individual notifications it is sensible to ensure that (so far as reasonably practicable) the public notification mirrors the information requirements for individual notifications in the EU GDPR, by including: • the name and contact details of the data protection officer or other contact point where more information can be obtained • the likely consequences of the personal data breach • the measures you have taken, or intend to take, to address the personal data breach, including, where appropriate, recommendations

This Checklist is intended to help a purchaser’s solicitor carry out an initial review of the first draft of a contract for the purchase of commercial property issued by the vendor by identifying headline points to check. Sometimes the vendor’s solicitor will have drafted the contract without a full appreciation of all the issues that will need to be dealt with and so it is important for the purchaser to be alive to anything missing at the outset and flag any likely issues or contract requirements as early as possible (even if only as a placeholder within the contract pending instructions or further information). Identification of vendor and purchaser The heads of terms may not define the parties accurately: • Companies Registration Office—assuming the vendor is a company, the purchaser’s solicitor should check the Companies Registration Office that the correct party and company number is mentioned in the heads of terms and that it matches the details shown in the title documents • if the vendor is an overseas company, partnership

DATE [insert date] Parties 1 [Insert name of Grantor] incorporated and registered in Ireland with company number [insert company number] whose registered office is at [insert address] (Grantor) 2 [Insert name of Grantee] incorporated and registered in Ireland with company number [insert company number] whose registered office is at [insert address] (Grantee) This option agreement provides for the sale of land as a whole and is not conditional on planning. The option may either be exercised by the Grantor (‘putting’ the property on the Grantee) or by the Grantee (‘calling’ for the transfer of the property from the Grantor). Options are contracts for the sale of land within section 51 of the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009 (Ireland) (LCLRA 2009 (IRL)). An option agreement must: • be in writing • contain or incorporate all of the terms expressly agreed between the parties, and • be signed by or on behalf of each party 1 Definitions In this Agreement, the following definitions apply: this Agreement • means this put and call option agreement; Grantee’s Option • Definition—Grantee’s Option Include the optional wording in this definition if the optional wording in clause

Ronan Daly Jermyn (RDJ) partner Darryl Broderick has analysed the recent High Court defamation case where Gerry Adams was awarded €100,000 in damages against the BBC. The analysis highlights how the case demonstrates continuing uncertainty in Irish defamation law, particularly regarding jury awards and the unused public interest defence under the Defamation Act 2009. Broderick notes the proposed abolition of juries in the Defamation (Amendment) Bill 2024 and expresses concern about the bill's failure to simplify the public interest defence.

Once an employee has established that they have the 12 months’ service required to come under the protections of the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 (Ireland) (UDA 1977 (IRL)) and that they have been dismissed, the burden will be on the employer to show that there were substantial grounds justifying the dismissal. UDA 1977 (IRL) contains a list of permitted reasons for dismissal at section 6(4) which includes the conduct of the employee. Even when an employer has established that the dismissal is due to misconduct there remains an overriding obligation on the employer to have acted reasonably in relation to the dismissal. Most dismissal claims focus heavily on the issue of fair procedure, however it is not explicitly mentioned anywhere in UDA 1977 (IRL). Fair procedure—policy and Statutory Instrument 146 of 2000 (Ireland) UDA 1977 (IRL), s 14(1) requires employers to have a written dismissal procedure and to provide employees with a copy of the same. UDA 1977 (IRL), s 6(7)b provides that the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) or Labour Court may consider