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Teagasc don Téachta Dáila Nua (New Congressman's Guide)

First off, allow me to congratulate you on being elected in your region. You obviously have the smarts to impress your voters and your party, but now you'll be tested on a more critical asset: your capability. If you're just starting off on your first term in Congress, or you're just in the mood for a refresher course, here's the best place you can start.

Secondly, you’re going to be needing access to the Private Dáíl and therein the vintage whiskey cabinet. Private Message Marcus Suridius ingame or PM him on the Irish forum to let him know you’re a TD (Congressmember).

Official Dáil IRC channel : Rizon server #Dail

Propose Laws

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This is the crux of eIreland's government - through both in-game and offsite laws, you and your fellow Congressmen will shape our nation into what, hopefully, will stand proudly as a stronger, more accomplished society by the end of your term. Here's a little description on the functions of both types of laws, and how you can best go about implementing them:


1. In-Game Laws

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Do not propose any law without first posting a discussion for it in the Public or Private Dáil for a minimum of 24 hours.

Quite simply, this category encircles all the laws you can officially propose, as a Congressman, in-game. You can view current and past law proposals from the “Administration” tab. (Community -> Country Administration) Clicking the blue ‘Propose a Law' button reveals the selection of proposals available to you:

> New Citizen Fee

You may propose a change in the amount of money newly born citizens receive from Ireland upon their arrival. This cannot be lowered beyond 5 IEP.

> Donate

You may propose to donate money from the Country Accounts to an organization. You cannot donate to citizens ?Still Correct?, and the amount of proposed money to be donated (while the law is pending) cannot be moved or transferred.

> Issue Money

You may propose an amount of national currency in the Country Accounts to be printed. This swaps Gold for IEP, at a cost of 0.005 Gold per IEP. (Eg. 10,000 IEP will cost 50 Gold).

> Taxes

You may propose a change in Income Tax, Import Tax, and Value Added Tax. You cannot propose taxes lower than 1%. Also, you cannot propose Income Tax or VAT higher than 25% or Import Tax higher than 99%.

> Minimum Wage

You may propose a change in the minimum salary that employees receive. This cannot be lowered beyond 0.1 IEP.

> President Impeachment

You may propose the forcible removal of the current President of Ireland. In order for this to pass, at least 66% of Congress / Dáil votes are necessary. If passed, the President will be ejected from his office and will be replaced by the runner-up in the last Presidential elections (not necessarily the Vice President). After an impeachment vote has closed there is a seven day cooldown period during which it may not be reproposed.

> Provide Citizenship

You may accept a limited number of citizenships.  The precise number remaining will be located in the top right of the Pending Citizenship Applications page. Citizens are allowed to vote so it’s of the utmost importance that you do not accept those looking to harm our nation. To help you in this endeavour please inspect the Citizenship Applications Board of the Irish Forum and/or contact the Minister of Immigration prior to approving any request.

> Natural Enemy

You may propose that a bordering nation become your Natural Enemy. Should it be successful, a free war is opened between you and your Natural Enemy which cannot be closed by Peace Treaty for 7 days. All Irish citizens receive a 10% bonus to training, influence/damage (when fighting our N.E directly) and Military Rank Points (when fighting our N.E directly)

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For every proposed law, there will be a Debate link for the Congress Members/President to specify a discussion area.

Again, do not propose a law without hosting a discussion of it here for at least 24 hours beforehand. This is the law. Failure to observe this rule will result in the rejection of your proposal.

Congress Members can propose only 2 laws in a mandate, while the Presidents can propose an unlimited number of laws. If the law's voting process has not been finished, the same type of law can not be proposed. The voting process period for each law is 24 hours. In order for a law to pass, the majority of votes must be in favor even if only one vote has been expressed. In the case of a tie the law is rejected. An exception to simple majority is the President Impeachment law and Natural Enemy Law that requires 66% in-favor votes out of the expressed votes.


2. Presidential Proposed Laws

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The next category of laws are those which you cannot propose but you are able to vote on ingame. Mostly these will be proposed by our own President but Peace Treaties and Alliance proposals may result from the actions of a foreign President. The President may make an unlimited number of proposals during his/her term.

> Alliance (Mutual Protection Pact)
If you approve an MPP then anybody in Ireland can join in the battles directly involving our MPP partner and anybody in their country can do the same for us. Advisable to check the Private Dáil for confidential discussions prior to voting. Costs 10,000 local currency from each nations national treasury and lasts for 30 days.

> Declare War
War can be declared on any nation which has a border with one of our regions. If successful regular trade between the warring nations is suspended. Battles will occur about once every 24 hours for the duration of the war. Check out whether it’s a rogue Presidential war declaration or a tactical declaration in the Private Dáil

> Peace Treaty
Always check the Private Dáil to ensure whether Peace Treaty terms have been negotiated. Enemy Presidents will sometimes propose peace for a large fee to temporarily remove that amount from our treasury while the vote is in progress.

> Trade Embargo
Proposed by the President to prevent trade between Ireland and an enemy nation. Offers on the market will remain but cannot be altered. The aim is to keep cash within friendly territories and benefit only our allies economically. Embargoes last for 30 days.

> Welcome Message
This is the message which New Citizens receive in their inbox upon joining the game in Ireland. Vote NO to retain the current message. Vote YES to switch to the message displayed in the proposal.

3. Offsite Legislation

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This refers to all player-written pieces of legislation that cannot be passed via in-game functions. These are generally very thoroughly written bills that can propose anything from amendments to the Constitution, Procedural Laws or even Policy Guidance for the Executive (Ministers)!

Again, do not propose a law without hosting a discussion of it here for at least 24 hours beforehand.


Hosting Discussion

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For every single law you wish to pass, you must first invite the opinion and advice of your fellow Congressmen. Post your complete proposal for an in-game law, or if its offsite legislation, show us the way you think it should be written (have another citizen privately help you write it first, if you prefer) - and discuss the matter for 24 hours before calling for a vote.
For full details please read the Dáíl Éireann Method of Vote Act.

Of course, you need to decide whether it belongs in the Public or Private Dáil - the latter of which can only be seen by official members of the Government and Dáil. Here's a general guideline.


Public Dáil

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All non-sensitive, domestic matters.
- All in-game laws.
- Economical/community proposals.
- Non-military/intelligence proposals.
- Non-diplomatic proposals.


Private Dáil

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All potentially sensitive, foreign-affairs related issues.
- MPP (Alliance)  proposals.
- War declarations.
- Non aggression Pacts, Treaties etc.
- War Council proposals.
- Contains diplomatically sensitive information.
- Internal security issues.

So, that's about it in a nutshell. To wrap up, in this thread you've been given information on what you can do as an Irish Congressman, and how to go about it, but it'll be up to you to determine how effective you'll ultimately be. Post often. Get to know the crowd, and become familiar with the ropes before proposing your laws. Build a reputation for yourself. Participate in your community actively. Serve the people. And do Ireland proud.

If you have a question on Dáil procedure or any of your duties and powers, please feel free to contact the Ceann Comhairle or Leas Ceann Comhairle. Hope you have a successful and productive political career in eIreland!


Originally written by Lord Rhindon
Updated and edited by Sean Power