Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 5 and 6 together.

The OECD report Regulatory Reform in Ireland contains a wide range of recommendations. Progress on their implementation has been reported many times in the House since the report's publication, including in the context of the follow-up to the Government's White Paper on regulation Regulating Better. Individual Ministers are responsible for reporting on those recommendations relating to their sectors.

In October of last year, the Government published a Government statement on economic regulation which provides a framework for the future development of economic regulation in Ireland. The statement covers issues such as governance and accountability, the appropriateness of regulatory structures and mandates, cost effectiveness and engagement with stakeholders.

We will provide an obligation on relevant Ministers in legislation to review the roles and mandates of regulators at least every five years. Ministers will also approve planned expenditure by regulators, including any industry levies, following consultation with stakeholders. The Minister for Transport will bring forward legislation to merge the Commission for Aviation Regulation and the regulatory functions of the Irish Aviation Authority with the planned national transport authority to create a single transport regulator.

As part of the commitment in the Government statement to initiate an annual regulatory forum, I, together with other Ministers will meet with key regulators, the Competition Authority and the National Consumer Agency, on Friday of this week to discuss the implementation of the Government statement and the contribution which improved competition and regulation in all sectors can make to economic recovery and renewal. In addition to the work we have undertaken on statute law revision, individual Ministers have also undertaken significant consolidation projects, including in the key areas of company law and customs legislation.

Regulatory impact analysis is a tool used to assess the potential impacts of proposed legislation. It applies to primary legislation as well as to significant EU and secondary legislation. Revised regulatory impact assessment guidelines were published last year and take account of the need for improved quantitative analysis, in particular, and for the increased use of regulatory impact statements to evaluate draft EU legislative proposals.

The better regulation unit of my Department is currently co-ordinating the Government input to the review of Ireland's regulatory systems and processes undertaken by the OECD. The review is being conducted as part of a set of similar reviews covering the original 15 EU member states which is being funded by the EU Commission and covers issues such as regulatory impact analysis, administrative burden reduction and approaches to enforcement. It is expected that review will be completed later this year.

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