Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

An independent review in line with the terms of Towards 2016 of the operation of regulatory impact analysis, RIA, was commissioned to assess the effectiveness of the RIA model across Departments. The report was published in July 2008 and it is available on the better regulation website. It indicates overall that good progress has been made in the implementation of RIA across Departments, with 74 produced between 2005 and February 2008. The report also finds that supports made available to officials conducing RIAs are well regarded. RIA 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 agreed to implement the recommendations in the report.

The guidelines were revised as a result of the recommendations. Training materials have also been updated to take account of recommendations arising from the review and an updated training course run in conjunction with the Civil Service training and development centre, CSTDC, is available to officials on an ongoing basis. The better regulation unit has also made a number of other targeted presentations to officials outlining the changes to the RIA system resulting from the review and the unit is also working with the CSTDC to develop an on-line training solution.

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