Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 1 May 2001

Vol. 535 No. 1

Written Answers - EU Summits.

Ruairí Quinn

Ceist:

105 Mr. Quinn asked the Taoiseach if, in respect of commitments made at the Lisbon Summit 2000 concerning economic reform in order to make the European Union the most competitive economic area by 2010, he will list the number of measures that have to be undertaken by his Department; the stage at which these measures are; the title and brief description of each measure; when it is expected to have the measure taken or implemented; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11755/01]

The Taoiseach

I would refer to the full statement I made to the Dáil on Thursday 29 March in regard to the outcome of the European Council which I attended at Stockholm on 23 and 24 March 2001. The core business of the Stockholm European Council was ensuring further progress on the economic and social agenda of the European Union, building on the strategy we set out at Lisbon last year, namely to make the EU the most competitive and dynamic knowledge based economy in the world by 2010.

I understand that the relevant Ministers are addressing those areas of direct concern to their Departments in the replies to the separate questions on this subject which have been put to them.

As regards areas where my Department has an operational role, the Lisbon conclusions include the broad area of regulatory reform which cuts across the functional responsibilities of many Departments. Particular reference is made to removing unnecessary red tape, paying attention to the impact and compliance costs of proposed regulations and engaging in dialogue with business and citizens. My Department's role in regard to regulatory reform is one of co-ordination and support.

My Department is also directly involved in the development of the Information Society eEurope Action Plan. The Department is co-ordinating and facilitating the delivery of electronic public services to feed into the new Government action plan on the information Society. In this context, we are promoting the benchmarking on an EU level of the provision by electronic means of a comprehensive range of public services.