Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)

The Minister of State said the Bill would have 1,300 amendments, which will keep us going for quite a while. I hope the Dáil will resume early next year so we can spend a large chunk of September dealing with the Bill to try to pass it as quickly as possible. It has taken longer than was necessary to bring it before the House. I am not denying that significant work was involved. The outcome of the Bill is what is important, namely, a reduction in the regulatory burden on business so there can be fewer overheads and more efficiency, which is a critical element of the Bill. I hope the Minister of State will bear that in mind and realise that the sooner the Bill can be brought before the House the better because it is long overdue.

The current trend continues to be a greater imposition of regulatory burden on business. We do not want more regulation but better, more efficient regulation. We need regulation, which if it has to be administered, can be done through efficient IT systems. Perhaps the various State agencies such as Enterprise Ireland could offer some assistance to companies. The county and city development boards could offer assistance to companies in terms of IT packages that would streamline some of that work and help business to be more efficient. Clearly, the upward surge in costs to businesses in recent years has hampered the creation of jobs and of export markets. I hope the Government will take that seriously and address it as quickly as possible. We look forward to working with the Government in that regard to clear up that legislation when it comes before the House. I hope it will be sooner rather than later.

See this speech in context