Laws can feel as if they have always been there. Every one of them started as a proposal, had to pass through the Oireachtas, and only became law when the President signed it. Today you will put that journey in order, from first idea to finished Act.

Who can put one forward? The Government can, and so can a TD or a Senator acting on their own. That proposal then has to get through both Houses of the Oireachtas: the Dáil and the Seanad. Only after both Houses have passed it does the Bill go to the President. When the President signs it, it becomes an Act of the Oireachtas: a real law.

On your own or with the person beside you, drag the seven stages of a Bill into the order you think is correct. Use the three board headings (Bill, both Houses, President signs) to anchor where each card belongs. When you lock your order in, the interactive will show what matches and what does not. Fix anything that bounced, then be ready to say which stage you nearly left out.

Talk these through as a class, starting from the stages your room actually misplaced:

1. Why is Committee Stage separate from the general debate at Second Stage?
2. Why must the other House see the Bill before the President signs?

Hear two reasons for keeping Committee Stage separate, and two for sending the Bill to the other House. Note where the class agrees and where it does not.

You can now explain how laws are made in Ireland from proposal to enactment. A Bill is only a proposal. It is introduced, debated in general, examined in detail, passed by one House, passed by the other House, and signed by the President before it becomes an Act of the Oireachtas. The order is not decoration: each stage does a different job.