Mr. Fergal O'Brien:

I will reflect on some of that. With regard to the quality of regulation, we have always felt it was a question of enforcement. Many building standards were never enforced. We do not need a great deal more regulation. We have some regulations that are probably useful. The same is the case on the banking side. What is important is the quality of enforcement. There is no doubt we have made incredible progress since the start of the crisis, particularly with regard to the quality and enforcement of financial regulation.

We still have concerns with regard to how some regulations are introduced and how new legislation is introduced. We are not seeing enough evidence-based impact assessment in advance of the issuing of new legislation. We are still subject to the ideologies and the vagaries of political opinion. It needs to be more evidence-based. We need more systematic approaches. I completely support Senator Barrett's comments about rigorous evaluation. Right across the policy-making and political system, we all need to bring more evidence to what we are talking about. Let us not have just ideology. If we are bringing in new legislation, let us ensure it is road-tested that so that it will neither cost jobs nor make it more difficult for businesses to operate. We are still seeing some legislation of this type, and that is a concern.