Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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327. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the legislative proposals published by his Department between 2011 to 2016 that underwent a regulatory impact assessment; the legislative proposals published by his Department that did not undergo a regulatory impact assessment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11148/17]

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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328. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if regulatory impact assessments for legislative proposals published by his Department include impacts (details supplied); the impact categories not included; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11163/17]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 327 and 328 together.

My Department undertakes Regulatory Impact Assessments (RIA) in accordance with the procedures set out in the RIA Guidelines published by the Department of the Taoiseach in June 2009. The impact categories in the RIAs have adhered, as appropriate, to those outlined in the RIA Guidelines. 

The following is the list of legislative proposals published by my Department between March 2011 and 2016 in respect of which Regulatory Impact Assessments were undertaken:

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

- The Gas Regulation Bill 2013, enacted on the 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 2014, enacted on the 18 March 2014. A RIA was completed in respect of the Bill and was published on my Department’s website.

- The Energy Bill, enacted on the 30 July 2016. A RIA for the Energy Bill 2016 was completed and published on my Department’s website.

- The Minerals Development Bill 2015 was published on the 9 July 2015 and is currently going through the Oireachtas.  A Regulatory Impact Assessment was undertaken and published on my Department’s website.

- The general scheme of the Geothermal Energy Development Bill was approved by Government on 13 July 2010.  The general scheme was published along with a Regulatory Impact Assessment.

- Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015.  A RIA was completed in respect of the Bill and was published on the Department of Housing, Planning, Community & Local Government website.

- Climate Action and Low-Carbon Development Bill 2014.  A RIA was completed in respect of the Bill and was published on the Department of Housing, Planning, Community & Local Government website.

- EU Directive - Draft European Communities (Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading) Regulations 2011.  A RIA was completed in respect of the Regulations and was published on the Department of Housing, Planning, Community & Local Government website.

- The Petroleum (Exploration and Extraction) Safety Act 2015, enacted on the 22 July 2015. 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 published 02 July 2015. A RIA was completed in respect of the Bill and was published on my Department’s website.

- Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, 2014 (Reform of Household Waste Collection Provisions).  A RIA on Household Waste Collection was published in July 2012.

- The Communications Regulation (Postal Services) (Amendment) Bill 2016  was published 22 December 2016 and is currently going through the Oireachtas. A RIA was completed in respect of the Bill but as some of the material contained in the RIA is considered to be commercially sensitive it has not been published.

- Radiological Protection (Miscellaneous Provisions ) Bill 2014. A RIA was produced with reference to the elements of the Bill which provided for the incorporation of the Amendment of the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material into Irish law.  It was not necessary to conduct a RIA on the merger of the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland and the Environmental Protection Agency as this was required by an existing Government decision.

The following primary legislative proposals published by my Department did not undergo a regulatory impact assessment.

- The Access to Central Treasury Funds (Commission for Energy Regulation) Bill 2011, enacted on 23 of November 2011. No Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) was required for this Bill.

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

- Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2011.

- Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2015.

The following is a list of the secondary legislation in respect of which regulatory impact assessments were undertaken.

The following is a list of additional secondary legislative proposals which did not undergo a regulatory impact assessment.  These statutory instruments relate to transposition of Directive 2009/28/EC on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources, which was subject to extensive consultation and also to transposition of the 2012 Energy Efficiency Directive for which no regulatory impact assessment was required. A thorough public consultation on the transposition of the Directive was however conducted in 2013.