Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 140: To ask the Taoiseach the number of staff in terms of whole time equivalents who have been assigned by him to give effect to the commitment to assess, measure and then reduce by 25% administrative burdens imposed by his Department's regulations to business; the financial resources that have been spent on such work to date in 2008; the expected expenditure for the remainder of 2008; the budget for 2009; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45950/08]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

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 Central Statistics Office (CSO) has identified a number of Regulations which impose burdens on business and in line with the overall effort to measure and reduce administrative burdens across Government, is devoting resources to the Government programme to measure and reduce administrative burdens.

The CSO has identified the most burdensome information obligations and plans are well advanced to move to the next phase of the project involving a detailed measurement of those information obligations representing 90% of the total burden. When the measurement has been completed (first half of 2009), a simplification plan will be prepared detailing how the burden on business can be minimised, thereby contributing to the Government's overall target of reducing administrative burdens on business by 25% by 2012.

In addition, in its Statement of Strategy 2008-2010, the CSO has identified as a corporate priority the minimising of response burden on CSO inquiry respondents. To achieve this the CSO is taking a number of additional actions, including increasing the use of electronic reporting methods, adopting better sampling techniques, increasing coordination between surveys and making greater use of administrative records. As a first step towards minimising response burden, it was necessary to measure the existing burden. CSO issued a report in June 2008 presenting an analysis of the burden imposed on Irish business by making CSO statistical returns for surveys issued in 2005, 2006 and 2007.

As the minimisation of response burden is a corporate priority, contributions have been made by a range of officials and it is not, therefore, possible to give the precise staff input into the above projects but it would equate approximately to the direct input of two staff members at professional statistician level. CSO anticipates that this level of input will be maintained in 2009 and expanded as resources permit with a view, in particular, to replacing surveys of smaller enterprises with administrative data.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 141: To ask the Taoiseach the number of staff in terms of whole time equivalents he has allocated within his Department to supporting 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 he will make a statement on the matter. [45952/08]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The Better Regulation Unit of my Department is tasked with co-ordinating and monitoring the implementation of the actions set out in the Government White Paper, 'Regulating Better'. In this context, the work of the Unit includes supporting the use of Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) across Government Departments in partnership with the RIA Network. In addition, the independent Review of the Economic Regulatory Environment will be completed shortly and the Unit will have responsibility for co-ordinating the response to the Review. The Unit is also involved in advancing initiatives designed to modernise the Statute Book, including the Statute Law Revision Project for which the Office of the Attorney General has responsibility.

A total of €508,693 was spent on projects related to these areas of work in 2008. This includes the cost of the independent Review of the Operation of RIA and the Review of the Economic Regulatory Environment. There is no further expenditure planned for the remainder of this year. The projected cost for projects in support of the work of the Better Regulation Unit for 2009 is estimated at €92,000.

The Unit comprises one half-time Principal Officer, one full-time Assistant Principal Officer, one full-time Administrative Officer and one full-time Clerical Officer.