Feargal Quinn (Independent)

I am not sure whether I should make this point on section 1. Why was this sweeping and complex legislation not subjected to regulatory impact assessment, of which I was not aware until recently? The OECD report on regulation, published in March 2000, strongly recommended that all Irish legislation and regulations should be subjected to regulatory impact assessment before being enacted. That conclusion, with which I and I am sure everyone else agrees, was endorsed by the Department of the Taoiseach this time last year when the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste declared they would publish a consultation paper on better regulation. If we want to remain a competitive economy which will attract industry and be good for business, we should ensure we do not take steps to hinder this. I understand the reason the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste said something should be done about it. If the Bill had been subjected to regulatory impact assessment, the costs, problems and complications involved, to which we have not given enough attention, would have come to light. It would not have been necessary for me and at least 25 others who made submissions to the Minister to table amendments in an attempt to mitigate some of the difficulties. I hope the Minister of State can tell me the reason this was not done as it appears to have been identified as Government policy. Will consideration be given to carrying out a regulatory impact assessment in accordance with Government policy? Will he consider delaying further progress of the Bill until that is done? I hope I have raised this point under the relevant section.