Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick East, Fine Gael)

It is relevant to regulation.

The Forfás report on driving export growth stated:

Identifying best practice in the application of EU legislation, for example, the REACH directive, by other member states will help ensure that the implementation of EU legislation in Ireland does not present a competitive disadvantage to Irish firms. The National Competitiveness Council recommends that relevant Government Departments, agencies and sector representative groups monitor the application of EU legislation elsewhere to ensure that the Irish interpretation and implementation, while meeting the required standard, does not place an unnecessary or excessive burden on the Irish chemicals and pharmaceuticals sector.

In his speech the Minister of State pointed out:

The first notable change will be the requirement on manufacturers and importers to reclassify their substances from 1 December 2010. All substances placed on the market on or after 1 December will be required to be notified to the European Chemicals Agency within one month. I am informed that the European Chemicals Agency's feedback from industry predicts that the number of notifications could be two million or even more.

How much will these new regulations cost the Irish chemical industry and those bodies responsible for their implementation, such as the Health and Strategy Authority and the Health Service Executive? There seems to be no regulatory impact assessment with this legislation. Will the Minister of State give a commitment that one will be carried out?

The problem is that it is very hard for Members of the House to have a proper debate when we do not know what the impact of the legislation transposing this directive will have. There is a strong need for regulatory impact assessments to become standard in terms of how the Government does its work. I am anxious to hear the Minister's views in that regard. In future, if the Government is transposing directives, it should introduce them in adequate time for regulatory impact assessments to be carried out. These should be provided to Opposition Members so we can have a constructive debate at an early stage on the impact a directive will have on an industry.

Over half of our goods exports are produced by an industry that will be directly affected by this Bill. Here we are, however, with a lack of information to have a proper debate on the issue. Industry in Ireland is experiencing difficulties in the current environment, yet we are now imposing a further regulatory burden on it by 1 December, with no quantifiable indication of how much it will cost, how this directive has been implemented in other EU jurisdictions so we can assess the pitfalls, the level at which it has been implemented or what has become the norm. When it was decided to bring this legislation before the House, did the Department carry out a review of its implementation in other EU jurisdictions in terms of the cost to industry? In this country there are three regulatory bodies involved, the HSA, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Department of Health and Children. Is that the case in other EU jurisdictions or does just one body carry out the regulation, which cuts down on the cost of regulation and makes it more efficient?

Such information would ensure we could have a proper and detailed debate on something that is technical in nature but that will ultimately cost an industry which is providing an enormous number of jobs to Irish people, many in the multinational sector. It is imperative that we retain those jobs. I hope the Minister will address this.

See this speech in context