Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 to 13, inclusive, together.

Since the publication of the OECD report, Regulatory Reform in Ireland in 2001, significant progress has been made in the area of regulatory reform. In 2004, the Government published the White Paper, Regulating Better, in response to the OECD's report. The White Paper provides the basis for work on the better regulation agenda. Some of the key areas outlined in the White Paper relate to specific sectoral issues on which the responsible Ministers report directly to the House.

The better regulation unit in my Department is tasked with the overall promotion of the better regulation agenda across the Government system. Clearly, individual Ministers and their Departments and Offices are responsible for implementing the various elements of this agenda within their own Departments and agencies under their aegis. There are no plans to alter these arrangements. In the context of the ongoing work of the better regulation unit, I would like to outline briefly for the House progress, in particular, in the three areas of regulatory impact analysis, modernisation of the Statute Book and reviewing the economic regulatory environment.

Following a Government decision in June 2005, regulatory impact analysis, RIA, must be applied to all proposals for primary legislation, significant statutory instruments, draft EU directives and significant EU regulations. RIA is a tool which is used to assess the likely effects of a proposed new regulation or regulatory change in a structured and transparent way. In line with the terms of Towards 2016, an independent review of the operation of RIA was published in July of this year and is available on the better regulation website. It indicates that, overall, good progress has been made in relation to the implementation of regulatory impact analysis across Departments, with some 74 produced in the period between June 2005 and February 2008. The report also finds that the supports which have been made available to officials conducting RIAs are well regarded. More than 800 officials have been trained in the use of RIA. This training has resulted in a significant increase in analytical skill sets across the Civil Service. These skills help to ensure that all impacts, including unintended ones, are assessed through the RIA process, resulting in better quality legislation. The Government has agreed to implement the recommendations made in the report.

The better regulation unit of my Department has, together with the Office of the Attorney General, steered and focused work in the area of modernisation of the Statute Book. This work is designed to increase the transparency and accessibility of the Statute Book for the citizen. The statute law revision project is helping to clear away thousands of redundant and obsolete Acts so we can see what needs to be repealed and re-enacted in modern, consolidated form. Almost 3,500 obsolete pre-1922 Acts have already been repealed by the Statute Law Revision Acts 2005 and 2007.

The current phase of the statute law revision project is focusing on local, personal and private Acts. The aim is to provide a complete list of pre-1922 primary legislation which remains in force. The heads of a new statute law revision Bill were approved by the Government on 29 April 2008.

In addition, the Law Reform Commission is undertaking a programme of statute law restatement which will make legislation more accessible by providing, in the case of selected Acts, a single, up-to-date text, including all amendments. The Acts to be restated as part of the programme were selected following an extensive consultation process and reflect Government priorities. This process of restatement will also facilitate future consolidation and modernisation of legislation.

The programme for Government includes a commitment to instigate a review of the economic regulatory environment which fits well with elements of the action programme for better regulation contained in the White Paper. An interdepartmental group chaired by my Department has been tasked with advancing work in this area, for which the Economist Intelligence Unit in a partnership with Compecon Limited is undertaking an independent review to compare key economic regulators with their counterparts in the EU and the OECD and thereby address the need for stronger international benchmarks in regard to the comparative efficiency, effectiveness and accountability of regulators. It is expected this review will be completed by the end of the year.

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