Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 190: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance the main categories of administration cost or compliance cost for business created by Government Departments or agencies; the benchmark value for these costs against which it is planned to reduce cost by 25%; and the reduction which he hopes to achieve in the next two years. [23714/07]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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There is a commitment in the Programme for Government to review the regulatory environment for business. Based on the ESRI Survey of Business Attitudes to Regulation (published March 2007) and the Report of the Business Regulation Forum (published April 2007), the main areas of regulation which the business sector wants examined are:

Taxation,

Statistical reporting

Environmental regulations

Health and Safety regulations, and

Company and employment law.

Taking account of these findings, the Government agreed in March, 2007 that the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment would establish a High-level Group on Business Regulation with a wide range of membership from Government Departments, agencies, industry, and the trade unions to carry out the review.

The Group has already begun its work of examining the regulatory environment for business and will report in July 2008. This issue is of major importance in ensuring the future competitiveness of the Irish economy. I am confident that the review will ensure that the regulatory burden on business is minimized as much as possible.