Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent)
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Question 152: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources with regard to all legislation initiated by him since coming into office: the number of Bills that have completed the legislative process; the number of occasions on which amendments proposed by members of the opposition have been accepted; the number of Bills for which regulatory impact analyses have been published; the number of Bills for which poverty impact analyses have been published; and when a bill was exempt from the requirements to do poverty impact and regulatory impact analysis, if he will state same. [33974/12]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent)
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Question 153: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources 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. [33983/12]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 152 and 153 together.

I wish to advise the Deputy that since 9 March 2011 there have been three Bills initiated by me and brought through the legislative process to completion.

The first was the Access to Central Treasury Funds (Commission for Energy Regulation) Bill 2011. There were no amendments proposed by the opposition to this Bill. While no Regulatory Impact Analyses (RIA) was completed specifically for this Bill, a full RIA was undertaken with respect to the provisions of the related Petroleum (Exploration and Extraction) Safety Act, 2010. That Act is concerned with the carrying out of certain functions by the Commission for Energy Regulation, in respect of which borrowings from the Central Treasury Funds are necessary. The 2011 Bill itself was enacted on 23 November 2011 as the Access to Central Treasury Funds (Commission for Energy Regulation) Act 2011.

The second was the Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2011. An RIA was prepared to accompany a Memorandum for Government on the drafting of the Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2011 and it was published with the Bill on the 27th September 2011. The RIA took account of impacts on socially excluded or vulnerable groups. The Bill, Explanatory Memoranda and RIA were made available on my Department's website and also on the Oireachtas website. No opposition amendments were accepted for this Bill. The Bill itself was enacted on the 25th February 2012 as the Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2012.

The third was the Electricity Regulation (Carbon Revenue Levy)(Amendment) Bill 2012. This was emergency legislation on foot of a Supreme Court Decision and therefore was exempt from RIA requirements. No opposition amendments were proposed for this Bill. The Bill itself was enacted on 25th May 2012 as the Electricity Regulation (Carbon Revenue Levy)(Amendment) Act 2012.

My Department undertakes RIA in accordance with the procedures set out in the RIA Guidelines published by the Department of the Taoiseach. In all cases where an RIA is undertaken a Poverty Impact Assessment is integrated within the RIA process, which includes a specific requirement to examine the impacts of regulatory proposals on the socially excluded and vulnerable groups.

In addition I would also advise the Deputy that the Communications Regulation (Postal Services) Act 2011, while not initiated by me, was enacted in August 2011.