Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 93: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the number of staff in terms of whole time equivalents she has allocated within her Department to support the Better Regulation group's work; the financial resources that have been spent in support of such work to date in 2008; the expected expenditure for the remainder of 2008; the budget for 2009; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45703/08]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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The concept of Better Regulation is one to which my Department is wholly committed. Officers from my Department at Principal, Assistant Principal and Administrative Officer level, as appropriate, have in 2008, as part of their relevant responsibilities, attended meetings of the Inter-Departmental Group on Administrative Burden Reduction and the Regulatory Impact Analysis Network. Further, officials from various sections in the Department have worked on a one to one basis with the RIA Network in the preparation of certain legislation in support of the goal of achieving Better Regulation. In a similar manner, the Department co-operates with the Statute Law Revision Project which is also part of the Better Regulation agenda.

Accordingly, since Better Regulation is seen as an ongoing process in my Department relevant to everyone engaged in legislation and policy analysis and review rather than as a dedicated function for a limited number of specific officers, it is not possible to reflect the human and financial resources involved in a quantifiable manner as envisaged in the Deputy's question.