Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent)
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Question 117: To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the procedures operating in his Department for identifying when a Bill requires a poverty impact and or regulatory impact analysis and when it is exempt; the procedures for conducting and publishing that analysis, when applicable; and if he will identify, by rank or position, the officials responsible for managing and making decisions on this process. [33986/12]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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I can advise the Deputy that my Department adheres to central guidelines that have been developed by the Department of the Taoiseach in respect of the conduct of Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) of primary legislation. Most recently, in June 2009, the Department of the Taoiseach published revised guidelines on how to conduct a Regulatory Impact Analysis. The guidelines include guidance on when a RIA is required, the limited exceptions to the requirement to carry out a RIA on a Bill, as well as the procedures for carrying out and publishing a RIA. In conducting a RIA, regard is had also to any potential impacts on poverty.

The revised guidelines for undertaking a RIA state that "as a general rule, it is officials working in policy sections who have responsibility for conducting RIA's" and I can confirm that this is the established practice in my Department. Since assuming office in March 2011, RIA's have been undertaken in relation to all but one of the Bills published by my Department and these have been published on my Department's website at www.djei.ie.