Written answers
Tuesday, 17 June 2008
Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
Regulatory Impact Analysis
11:00 pm
Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 508: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the occasions on which her Department has carried out a screening regulatory impact analysis on statutory instruments, Bills and EU directives in the years 2006, 2007 and to date in 2008; the occasions on which they have subsequently decided not to carry out a full regulatory impact analysis; the reason this decision was made in each case; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22682/08]
Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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The information requested by the Deputy is set out in the following tabular statement.
| Year 2006 | ||
| Title of Screening RIA carried out on SIs Bills, and EU Directives | Reason a full RIA was not carried out | Any Additional Information |
| Consumer Protection (National Consumer Agency) Bill 2006 | The purpose of this Bill was to establish the National Consumer Agency (NCA) on a statutory basis and transpose the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCPD). The UCPD was first published in June 2003 which predated the Government decision of 21 June 2005 requiring RIA's to be applied to directives when they are published by the Commission. Notwithstanding this, the UCPD had been the subject of a number of public consultations with stakeholders. The Government decision approving the establishment of the NCA on statutory basis predated the requirement that an RIA should be applied to all proposals for primary legislation involving changes to the regulatory framework. Notwithstanding this, the Consumer Strategy Group, whose principal recommendation called for the establishment of the NCA, did engage in a wide-ranging consultation in the course of carrying out its work. | The provisions of the Consumer Protection Act were commenced on the 1st May 2007 with the exception of sections 48 and 49. The Minister advised that before commencing these provisions, the Department would engage in a public consultation with all stakeholders in relation to the impact of the sections. The submissions gave rise to a number of complex matters which required legal advice. As the Attorney General advised that sections 48 and 49 were not compatible with EU law, it was decided not to commence these provisions |
| Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Construction) Regulations 2006 | As these regulations involved the development of existing Regulations and were not directly linked to the transposition of an EU Directive, they were therefore, not considered significant enough to warrant a full RIA being carried out | The Screening RIA is available on Department's website |
| Year 2007 | ||
| Title of Screening RIA carried out on SIs Bills, and EU Directives | Reason a full RIA was not carried out | Any Additional Information |
| S.I. No. 557 of 2007, the European Communities (Ecodesign Requirements for Certain Energy Using Products) Regulations 2007 | As the Regulations do not create any additional legal obligations for business, no substantive issues were raised during the consultation process therefore a full RIA was not required. | When ecodesign requirements for additional products have been adopted by the European Commission, these will be subject of separate RIA(s). |
| Companies Consolidation and Reform Bill | It was decided, in this instance, that the benefits of the proposed legislation, though hard to monetise, were so self-evident, especially as compared with costs, that a Full RIA would not be warranted and so a Screening RIA was carried out on the Companies Consolidation and Reform Bill which runs to over 1,250 Heads. Although there is a multiplicity of reforms contained in the General Scheme, the Company Law Reform Group identified the reforms that have a significant regulatory impact upon the operation of companies and conducted its Screening RIA around these. | The benefits that will accrue as a result of the enactment of the measures included in the General Scheme were identified at a company and national level and a description of the expected benefits and where these will fall is given in Chapter 4 of the Report on the General Scheme of the Companies Consolidation and Reform Bill 2007 or at www.clrg.org. |
| Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations 2007 | The impact on areas of concern set out in the guidelines was not considered significant enough to warrant a full RIA being carried out | The Screening RIA is available on Department's website |
| Employment Law Compliance Bill 2007 | A full RIA was not considered to be necessary as the essentials of the Bill were agreed with the Social Partners in PART 2-Sections 11 to 16 of "TOWARDS 2016"-10-year Framework Social Partnership Agreement 2006-2015 | The screening RIA was published on the website of the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment on 16 May 2008. The Bill — now the Employment Law Compliance Bill 2008 was initiated in Dáil Éireann on 13 March 2008 and awaits consideration by Dáil and Seanad Éireann. |
| Proposal for Shareholders Rights Directive which was subsequently published as Directive 2007/36/EC. | A screening approach was considered proportionate to the nature of the proposal and to the level of impact involved. | The screening consisted mainly of consultation on an ongoing basis with all the interested parties concerned during the negotiations phase of the proposal. This consultation will continue during the implementation phase of this Directive into Irish law — due to be transposed by August 2009. |
| Year 2008 | ||
| Title of Screening RIA carried out on SIs Bills, and EU Directives | Reason a full RIA was not carried out | Any Additional Information |
| Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Safety of Toys | No significant impact identified. | |
| Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Quarries) Regulations 2008 | The impact on areas set out in the guidelines was such that they did not warrant a full RIA being carried out | The Screening RIA is available on Department's website |
| Proposed Employment Agency Regulation Bill | The key provisions in the draft legislation derived from specific commitments entered into by the Government with the social partners in the T16 Partnership Agreement. The detailed negotiations in social partnership in themselves constituted a form of RIA. Therefore, it was considered that a screening RIA would suffice. | |
| Proposal for a regulation regarding the Globally Harmonised System of classification, labelling and packaging of chemicals (GHS) | Screening RIA did not identify any significant impacts | |
| Chemicals Bill 2008 | Screening RIA did not identify any significant impacts. | |
| Potential impact of the draft European Communities (Dangerous Substances and Preparations) (Marketing and Use) (Amendment) Regulations 2008 transposing Directive 2007/51/EC relating to the restrictions on the marketing of certain measuring devices containing mercury. | Screening RIA did not identify any significant impacts. |
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