Legislative Programme

Tuesday, 22 October 2013

Questions (111)

Barry Cowen

Question:

111. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Taoiseach the number of Bills his Department has published since March 2011; the number of regulatory impact assessments that his Department has published since March 2011; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44098/13]

View answer

Written answers

The Taoiseach

The Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Eireann) Bill 2013, was published in June 2013, further to a commitment in the Programme for Government. A regulatory impact analysis (RIA) is normally required for all primary legislation but there are certain exceptions to this rule which are set out in the relevant guidelines. As the Bill concerned involved amending the Constitution for the purpose of abolishing the Seanad rather than significantly impacting on the regulatory environment a RIA was not completed in keeping with precedents for Bills of this nature.