Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

I have set up the business regulation forum, BRF, with effect from today. I was very pleased to secure the services of Dr. Donal De Buitléir, General Manager, Office of the Group Chief Executive, AIB Group, as chairman. The members appointed encompass an excellent spread of business and regulatory expertise and this will be complemented by the addition of departmental representatives.

Establishment of the BRF is a key element in implementing the Government's commitment to better regulation and to address administrative burdens which can genuinely be identified as disproportionate. My intention is that the BRF will advise me, and that I, in turn, will advise the Government, on regulatory issues as they impact on business and competitiveness, in particular issues and problems arising from outdated, inefficient or disproportionate regulation.

The forum will work in parallel with the existing better regulation group of Government officials and regulators. It will take a strategic overview of the application of better regulation principles to new regulation and examine specific existing regulations on a problem-solving basis. As the business regulation forum should be a dynamic body which will identify, focus on and prioritise regulatory issues of concern, I do not want to be prescriptive about its work. The adoption of a detailed work programme will be a matter for the forum. My Department and the State enterprise agencies will assist the forum to carry out its task and I have requested other Departments and the independent regulatory bodies to facilitate the effective analysis and review of particular regulatory issues.

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