Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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Since March 2011, there have been eight Bills published by my Department of which seven Bills have been brought through to completion. My Department undertakes Regulatory Impact Assessments in accordance with the procedures set out in the RIA Guidelines published by the Department of the Taoiseach. The following is a list of the eight Bills which have been published to date:

- The Access to Central Treasury Funds (Commission for Energy Regulation) Bill 2011 was enacted on 23 November 2011. No Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) was required for this Bill. A full RIA was undertaken for the related Petroleum (Exploration and Extraction) Safety Act, 2010.

- The Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2011 was enacted on 25 February 2012. A RIA for the Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2011 was published with the Bill on 27 September 2011.

- The Electricity Regulation (Carbon Revenue Levy) (Amendment) Bill 2012 was enacted on 25 May 2012. This was emergency legislation on foot of a Supreme Court Decision and therefore was exempt from RIA requirements.

- The Gas Regulation Bill 2013 was enacted on 3 December 2013. A RIA on the Gas Regulation Bill 2013, setting out the policy context and rationale for the implementation of full ownership unbundling, including for the sale of Bord Gáis Energy, was prepared. Some of the material contained in the RIA was considered to be commercially sensitive in light of the ongoing transaction process. Therefore, it has not been published at this stage.

- The ESB (Electronic Communications Networks) Bill 2013 was enacted on 18 March 2014. A RIA was completed in respect of the Bill and was published on my Department’s website.

- The Communications Regulation (Postal Services) (Amendment) Bill 2015 was enacted on 2 July 2015. A RIA was completed in respect of the Bill and was published on my Department’s website.

- The Petroleum (Exploration and Extraction) Safety Bill 2015 was enacted on 22 July 2015. A RIA was completed in respect of the Bill and was published on my Department’s website.

- The Minerals Development Bill 2015 was published on 9 July 2015. A RIA was completed in respect of the Bill and will shortly be published on my Department’s website.

There are two Bills currently in preparation where draft Heads of these Bills have been approved by Government and the Bills are expected to be published in Spring 2016. Regulatory Impact Assessments have been completed in respect of both of these Bills.

In addition, there are four Bills currently in preparation in respect of which Heads of these Bills have not yet been submitted to Government. It is expected that a Regulatory Impact Assessment will be published for each of these Bills.