Ireland has not yet enacted EU laws that impose penalties for breaching sanctions on Russia, and confidential Department of Justice documents reveal that the laws will not be in place before Ireland assumes the EU presidency in July.

Ireland has not yet ‘transposed’ the EU laws, which imposed criminal penalties for breaches of sanctions on Russia following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, that were passed by all but five States after their introduction in 2025.

These laws would also make it easier for companies to participate in sanctions such as freezing Russian assets or blocking financial transfers.

However, according to the agenda of a recent high-level meeting at the Department of Justice, the necessary legislative action ‘required to avoid a live infringement during our EU presidency’ is highly unlikely to be in place.

The meeting was warned of the politically awkward scenario in which Ireland could assume the leadership of the European Union despite failing to introduce laws to prosecute those who violate sanctions – and to make those penalties easier to enforce.

A senior Department of Justice source told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘This will be incredibly embarrassing. Let’s face it, if they aren’t in place by now, they never will be.

‘We will be holding the presidency of the EU while being one of the few holdouts on sanctions. It could turn the whole thing into a farce for Ireland.’

The MoS previously revealed vital anti-drone infrastructure is unlikely to be in place for the presidency; Ireland will rely on the French to patrol our seas and the British to patrol out skies.

The key security measures are primarily required to protect against activities senior gardaí suspect are Russian initiatives.

The sanctions referred to in the Department of Justice documents are primarily financial.

According to the recent agenda of the Department of Justice ‘MinMac’ meeting – attended by ministers and top civil servants – Ireland has so far failed to introduce the EU directive that makes clearer the definitions of offences and penalties for violation of EU sanctions.

Marked in bright red, section 15.2 of the agenda is titled ‘Violation of Restrictive Measures (Sanctions)’. 

According to the documents, the section of Government responsible for writing and actioning ‘Criminal Legislation’ is being encouraged to complete the process by the end of the second quarter of the year, before Ireland assumes the EU presidency.

The document’s text reads: ‘The Bill is on the priority list for drafting during the Spring 2026 legislative session.’

However, sources with a deep knowledge of the pace of drafting and enacting legislation told the MoS that completion is improbable before Ireland assumes the presidency. The documents themselves also indicate this.

The document continues: ‘Active engagement with OPC [Office of the Parliamentary Counsel] to finalise the remaining outstanding queries on the first draft of the Bill is ongoing so that a second draft of the Bill can be provided.’

The OPC is a specialist unit in the Office of the Attorney General responsible for drafting Government Bills, statutory instruments, and amendments.

However, Justice officials are uncertain whether the OPC will issue a ‘reasoned opinion’, which would mean Ireland will not introduce the laws.

The document continues: ‘[It is] uncertain whether, or when, the Commission will issue a reasoned opinion but transposition as early as possible in 2026 is required to avoid a live infringement during our EU presidency.’

Under the sanctions legislation, companies or individuals that breach a raft of EU sanctions imposed on Russia will face fines or criminal convictions.

However, some laws also apply to breaches of EU sanctions on Iran and China. The EU itself has said the laws, which are a year overdue, would also make it easier for sanctions to be imposed. The sanctions are principally applied to financial transfers and the freezing of Russian assets.

But Ireland is so far behind, officials doubt the legislation will be in place in time for Ireland’s accession to the EU presidency, a post Taoiseach Micheál Martin is eagerly anticipating.

Also highlighted in red, the document states the EU directive – the Violation of Restrictive Measures (Sanctions) – is ‘required’ to be transferred into Irish law ‘by 20 May 2025’.

The EU imposed a deadline of May of last year to transpose – put on domestic statutes – the directive.

But while other EU countries completed the transposition, Ireland has not. And the leaked Department of Justice document says significant legal problems remain.

The Government recently cited legal issues which make it highly unlikely the Occupied Territories Bill – which aims to ban trade with illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank – will ever be introduced. It is not known if similar difficulties are being encountered with the EU sanctions on Russia.

Earlier this month, the Department of Justice published the general scheme of the Criminal Justice (Violation of EU Restrictive Measures) Bill 2025, drafted to transfer the EU directive into Irish law.

In May 2024, the EU said member states had 12 months to transpose the directive.

Speaking at the time, Vera Jourová, European Commission’s vice-president for values and transparency, said: ‘With Putin continuing his illegal aggression against Ukraine, it is paramount that EU sanctions are fully implemented and the violation of those measures is punished.

The Department of Justice said: ‘The directive was subject to an accelerated one-year transposition period, with a deadline of May 2025. This timeline was widely acknowledged by member states as particularly ambitious for an instrument of this nature.

‘Notwithstanding these constraints, the drafting of the Bill has been prioritised and the department expects the Bill will be published before the summer recess and enacted as soon as possible thereafter.’