Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)

My concern regarding the regulatory impact assessments that have been done to date is that they tend not to include any figures on savings achieved. One would assume such assessments would include a calculation as to costs rather than the type of box analysis that has taken place. No regulatory impact assessment was undertaken in respect of the Employment Law Compliance Bill 2008. It was screened for it but a decision was made by the Department not to do a full RIA. The idea that legislation such as this would not have a regulatory cost for business is absurd. It provides additional powers to the authorities and creates 23 new offences for employers. How can this not have a regulatory cost for business? I am not convinced the Department is serious about the agenda of regulatory reform.

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