Damien English (Meath, Fine Gael)
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Question 37: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the amount of times he has published specific annual reports on reducing the regulatory burden; if he has published none, the reason this is so; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15555/07]

Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)
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Question 44: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment his views on the evidence from Benchmarking Ireland's Performance that the effectiveness and quality of Ireland's labour market regulation has fallen three places in OECD rankings since 2000; if he supports the European Commission's proposal to reduce administrative costs by 25% by 2012; and, if so, the way he will achieve such a reduction. [15609/07]

Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Question 47: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the reason his Department failed to act on the report of the Joint Enterprise Committee published in April 2005; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15550/07]

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)
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Question 57: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment his views on whether he has presided over a regulatory framework that is flexible, proportionate and up to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15552/07]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 68: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the work he has done to reduce the regulatory burden on SMEs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15559/07]

Liam Twomey (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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Question 69: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment his view of the recommendations of the report of the Joint Committee on Enterprise published in April 2005; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15551/07]

Denis Naughten (Longford-Roscommon, Fine Gael)
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Question 75: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the amount by which the regulatory burden has grown on business over the past ten years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15556/07]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 37, 44, 47, 57, 68, 69 and 75 together.

International benchmarking reports suggest that the regulatory burden in Ireland is relatively light. The IMD (International Institute for Management Development) World Competitiveness Yearbook 2006 ranks Ireland 8th out of 61 countries surveyed for the extent to which bureaucracy does not hinder business activity. The World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report 2006-07 ranks Ireland 17th out of 125 countries surveyed for having a low burden of government regulation. The World Bank's 'Doing Business' report for 2006 ranked Ireland 10 out of 175 countries in terms of ease of starting and running a business.

While it appears, therefore, that Ireland enjoys a relatively favourable position, it remains important that every effort be made to maintain and improve this position, that the concerns of business are addressed on an ongoing basis, and that, Ireland's economy remains competitive.

To that end, in November 2005 I established the Business Regulation Forum to advise on any changes necessary to ensure that existing or proposed regulations, impacting on business, meet the criteria set out in the Government White Paper "Regulating Better". The White Paper, published by the Department of the Taoiseach in 2004, set out an action programme to ensure that regulations are more rigorously assessed, more easily accessible and better understood.

The Business Regulation Forum included a number of business representatives, who gave their views on regulatory burdens directly. Research was also undertaken by the Forum into business experiences with regulation in Ireland. The Forum received more than 40 submissions from businesses. It also completed six in-depth business case studies by interviewing business people about their day-to-day experience of the regulatory burden. The Forum also drew on other research and reports such as the ESRI Business Regulation Survey (carried out on behalf of the Dept of the Taoiseach) and the report of the Small Business Forum.

Yesterday I launched the report of the Business Regulation Forum. The Forum identified five areas of regulation that impose the biggest administrative burden on the business sector, i.e. Taxation, Health and Safety, Environment, Statistics and Employment & Company Law and recommended that a reduction programme be carried out to lower the burden on business in these areas.

To take this work forward, including the development of a response to the European Council invitation to Member States to set a target for reducing administrative burdens, I have asked the Secretary-General of my Department, to lead a cross-Department and Agency effort, in consultation with the business sector and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, focussing on the priority areas identified.

Specifically in relation to labour market regulation, Ireland strongly supports the thrust of policies which seek to ensure that the appropriate regulatory environment is in place. A key objective in the formulation and development of Irish employment rights legislation is that of ensuring that across all sectors it continues to be appropriate to the changing needs of our economy and society. Our aim is to create a balance between the twin goals of effective protection of workers' rights and the streamlining of obligations placed on businesses.