Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 16 January 2013
383. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of regulatory impact assessments that have been carried out by his Department in the past twelve months and the list of regulatory impact assessments carried out within his Department in the past twelve months. [57763/12]
View answerThe following is the information requested by the Deputy.
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RIA Undertaken on (Name of Bill/Act/Regulations) 2012 |
Details of Regulatory Impact Assessment |
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Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Act 2012 |
RIA undertaken to assess the possible impact of the transposition of Directive 2008/104/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November, 2008 on temporary agency work. |
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Employment Permits Bill 2012 |
A RIA was prepared and submitted to Government in April 2012 on the options for a regulatory proposal to provide for more flexibility and targeted instruments in support of the economy's skills needs. |
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Workplace Relations Bill 2012 |
A RIA was undertaken to explore the various policy options regarding the introduction of legislation to consolidate the existing employment and equality dispute resolution and compliance and enforcement bodies (RIA published in July 2012). The General Scheme of the Workplace Relations Bill outlines proposals which will deliver a root-and-branch reform of the State's existing employment rights and industrial relations structures. The current complex structure involving five bodies will be replaced with a rationalised two-tier system compromising two bodies (the Workplace Relations Commission and the Labour Court), supported by a single shared-services administration. |
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Directive 2011/7/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 on combating late payment in commercial transactions (Recast). |
This RIA was prepared by DJEI in August, 2012. The purpose of the Recast Directive is to combat late payment in commercial transactions, in order to ensure the proper functioning of the internal market, thereby fostering the competitiveness of undertakings and, in particular, of SMEs. Previously the rules on late payments were under Directive 2000/35 and this new legislation repeals and modernises these old rules. This Directive lays down the specific deadlines for the payment of invoices and establishes a right to compensation in the event of late payment in all commercial transactions, whether they relate to transactions between private or public undertakings, or between undertakings and public authorities. This Directive came into force on 15 March 2011. Member States must transpose this Directive by 16 March 2013. |
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Microenterprise Loan Fund Bill 2012. |
This RIA was prepared by DJEI in April, 2012. The objective of this legislation is to establish a Microenterprise Loan Fund and to provide for Social Finance Foundation to manage and control the Microenterprise Loan Fund on behalf of the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. It empowers the Minister to pay monies provided by the Oireachtas into the fund and to accept gifts of moneys for allocation to the Fund. The objective of the fund is to provide loans to start-up, newly established, or growing microenterprises, thereby facilitating job creation and retention across the economy in all microenterprises with commercially viable proposals that do not meet the conventional risk criteria applied by banks. The Microenterprise Loan Fund is not intended to replace any current bank. |
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Credit Guarantee Bill 2012 |
This RIA was carried out in October, 2011. The ultimate objective of this regulatory proposal is to empower the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation to establish a targeted Temporary Partial Credit Guarantee Scheme. The legislation will empower the Minister to give a loan guarantee, designate a lending institution as a participating lending institution, set eligibility criteria for borrowers in such lending institutions, set loan conditions, set out requirements in respect of liability of the Minister regarding payment of guarantees, to require adequate monitoring arrangements and evaluation, to review and revoke the scheme and to assign a contractor to oversee the operation of the Scheme. The objective of the Scheme is to provide a Government guarantee to the lender of 75 per cent on eligible individual loans to viable businesses, which is paid to the lender on the unrecovered outstanding balance on a loan in the event of an SME defaulting on the loan repayments. The purpose of the scheme is to encourage additional lending to SMEs, not to substitute for conventional lending. It is not a grant, nor is it support for ailing businesses. The Scheme is intended to address specific market failures that prevent bank lending to some commercially viable businesses by providing a level of guarantee to banks against losses on qualifying loans to job-creating firms. All decision making at the level of the individual loan will be fully devolved to the participating lenders. |
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Review of the Patents Act 1992 |
The aim of this RIA is to examine the current legislative framework for patents in Ireland, in order to establish the key issues for deliberation, with a view to bringing proposals for legislative changes to Government for approval in due course. This RIA was published in March 2012. |
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Review of the research exemption provision in Section 42(g) of the Patents Act 1992 |
The aim of this RIA is to consider whether Ireland should broaden the scope of the “Bolar” type exemption provision as set down in Section 42 (g) of the Patents Act 1992. The “Bolar” type exemption was implemented into Irish law by means of the European Communities (Limitation of Effect of Patent) Regulations 2006 (Statutory Instrument No. 50 of 2006) which inserted a new Section 42(g) into the Patents Act 1992, on foot of an exemption provision in Article 6 of EU Directive 2004/27/EC. The RIA was completed in December 2012, and is awaiting publication. |
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Draft Industrial Development (Micro Enterprise and Small Business) Bill |
The RIA was undertaken to consider options on how best to implement the Government Decision of 16 April 2012 regarding the restructuring of the existing micro enterprise support structures with a view to creating an enhanced national micro enterprise support model to be delivered through Local Enterprise Offices. The RIA concluded that the proposed Bill is the appropriate way to give legal certainty to the Government Decision. |
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Companies Bill 2012 |
A RIA was published with the Company Law Review Group's General Scheme of the Companies Consolidation and Reform Bill in 2007. An updated version of that RIA was published on the Department's website following publication of the Companies Bill 2012. |
