Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 10: To ask the Taoiseach if he has completed his list of information obligations which their regulations impose on businesses; if so, the obligations involved; if not, when such a list will be finalised; if the most burdensome obligations, the regulations that they impose and the costs on businesses have been identified; if these costs, as they apply to businesses, have been measured; or if this aspect of the project has not been completed, the date by which this will be done; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34598/08]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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Regulations coming within the remit of my Department and Bodies under its aegis have been examined in the context of the Government programme to measure and reduce administrative burdens which is being co-ordinated by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

The CSO has identified 17 Regulations which impose burdens on business and is in the process of listing the individual information obligations concerned. It is expected that this list will be compiled shortly and that the most burdensome obligations will be identified for measurement before the end of the year.

This is in line with the overall effort to measure and reduce administrative burdens across Government. When the measurement has been completed, a simplification plan will be prepared detailing how a reduction in the burden on business can be achieved, thereby contributing to the Government's overall target of reducing administrative burdens on business by 25% by 2012.

In June of this year, the CSO published a report detailing the burden placed on businesses by many of its surveys, the Report on Response Burden placed on Irish Businesses by CSO Inquiries, which is available on the CSO website. It is planned to extend the scope of this report and publish it on an annual basis.