Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

There is nothing new in them and the heads are based around that. Speed and time are the reasons for not debating them at the committee. Where possible, it is better that there is a meaningful discussion about the heads of Bills and I have indicated that to my colleagues. I hope they go before all committees, they certainly go before some. In several cases the heads of Bills published for some time have not been debated in committees, which further delays matters.

The concept of the White Paper, the OECD report and all the work is to inject more rigour into the process of formulating and analysing proposed regulations and the regulatory impact analysis. The process of making regulations in certain cases may take more time but the impact analysis does not apply to all regulations. The idea is that if people must sit down, to examine and think extensively about the burdens and value of regulations and question their effectiveness and their ability to achieve something, half the regulations will not be needed.

I am frequently asked about the Health and Safety Act and what is happening to it. When I introduced it 15 years ago, I never envisaged that we would turn health and safety issues into an industry. After archaeology it must be the fastest growing industry. I was trying to ensure there were rules and guidance to stop the level of accidents happening at the time.

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