Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)

The objective behind regulatory impact analysis is to ease the unnecessary burden of red tape on society and especially on small business and entrepreneurship which are being strangled at the moment. Has the report not highlighted that progress to date in addressing bureaucracy has been painfully slow? One simple recommendation from the report was that each Department should have a dedicated RIA page on its website. From a review of Department websites only one has that in place, the Department of Social and Family Affairs. The Department of the Taoiseach website contains a separate link to access that. When will that be delivered by the Department of the Taoiseach and the other Departments?

One of the concerns is with secondary legislation and EU legislation. The Taoiseach will be aware that at the time of the original referendum campaign on the Lisbon treaty one of the single biggest issues that came up was the impact that EU legislation is having on the ground affecting agriculture, small business and the day-to-day lives of people. Will the Taoiseach ensure that RIAs will now be completed on all EU legislation with a bureaucratic impact? Will he ensure that they will all be published and easily accessible on the various websites?

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