Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)

We should breathe a collective sigh of relief that the Government did not increase indirect taxes in the last budget, given that it has imposed 27 stealth taxes since the last general election. We should be pleased. Will the Minister accept that important recommendations have been highlighted to him and to the Department of the Taoiseach over a long period of time but no action has been taken on them? This is particularly true with regard to the regulatory burden faced by businesses.

Does the Minister intend to make changes to the Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Act, which was enacted some time ago, particularly with regard to the compliance statement? Does the Minister accept that the regulatory burden imposes considerable additional costs on businesses and consumers? The Taoiseach's publication, Better Regulation, highlighted this in January 2004 but, regrettably, no action was taken. Will the Minister make an attempt to implement the recommendations in that document? It recommended that any legislation introduced which affected business or consumers should be necessary, sustainable, accountable and transparent, without imposing an additional cost burden on business.

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