Joe Higgins
Ceist:1 Mr. J. Higgins asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the progress to date in implementing the recommendations of the OECD report on regulatory reform. [14283/06]
Amharc ar fhreagraWednesday, 24 May 2006
Ceisteanna (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
Pat Rabbitte
Ceist:2 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Taoiseach his Department’s plans for a study of business attitudes to regulation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14874/06]
Amharc ar fhreagraPat Rabbitte
Ceist:3 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Taoiseach his Department’s plans for a consultation paper in regard to regulatory appeals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14875/06]
Amharc ar fhreagra
Enda Kenny
Ceist:4 Mr. Kenny asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the implementation of the recommendations of the OECD on regulatory reform; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16021/06]
Amharc ar fhreagra
Trevor Sargent
Ceist:5 Mr. Sargent asked the Taoiseach if he will report on progress in implementing the recommendations of the OECD report on regulatory reform; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16191/06]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí ó Béal (39 píosaí cainte)
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 5, inclusive, together.
Significant progress has been made since the publication of the OECD report on regulatory reform in Ireland. The focus of our efforts in progressing regulatory reform is now on implementing the White Paper on Better Regulation, Regulating Better, which was published in January 2004 in response to the OECD's report. It sets out six core principles which will be reflected in how we design, implement and review legislation and regulation. Some of the key areas outlined in the OECD report relate to specific sectoral issues and the appropriate Ministers with responsibility for those sectoral areas are reporting directly to the House on progressing the OECD recommendations.
Progress has been made in a number of key areas set out in the White Paper. The better regulation group was established in 2004 to oversee the implementation of the action plan arising from the White Paper. The group has met twice this year. Three subgroups have been established, the first of which is to progress certain commitments in the White Paper with regard to developing improved approaches to regulatory appeals and reviewing the issue of penalties for non-compliance with laws or regulations. This group has prepared a consultation paper on regulatory appeals, which I understand will be presented to the Government shortly. The paper will form the basis for a public consultation process regarding existing appeals mechanisms and how they might be streamlined and improved. As the paper has yet to be sent to Government, I cannot comment on its specifics but I understand it contains information on the range of existing appeals mechanisms and will invite comment on relevant issues and challenges. Submissions made as part of the consultation process will inform proposals which will be developed by the better regulation group to ensure an approach to appeals in keeping with the White Paper's principles.
Another sub-group of the better regulation group is considering improving electronic access to statutory instruments and a third group is completing an audit of the regulatory framework.
In July 2005, I announced the establishment of a business regulation forum. This forum, which is under the aegis of the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, comprises senior members from the public sector and business. It gives businesses an opportunity to identify regulatory measures that impact negatively on business and competitiveness, or issues arising from inefficient, outdated or disproportionate regulation. The forum has met three times so far.
The better regulation unit in my Department has commissioned a comprehensive survey of business attitudes to, and the experience of, regulation. This will build on a similar survey conducted four years ago. The survey will be guided by input from both the better regulation group and the business regulation forum. It is intended that it will focus not only on red tape and administrative burdens but also on the impact of regulation on business more broadly, such as the extent to which it facilitates or is a barrier to economic growth and the competitiveness of Irish business. The ESRI has been appointed to conduct the survey after a competitive tendering process and it is expected that the results will be published in the autumn.
My Department continues to provide support and guidance to Departments and offices on regulatory impact analysis, which is now required for all proposals for significant new regulation being sent to Government for approval. The process of modernising the Statute Book will continue in 2006 with the introduction of the Statute Law Revision (Pre-Union) Bill. This Bill will repeal nearly 2,300 old statutes dating from before 1800 which have been identified as redundant or obsolete. The Bill will also retain in force about 300 statutes from the same period as they are not yet suitable for repeal. The next step in the process will be to examine those statutes from the period 1800 to 1922. As Deputies know, this work builds on the Statute Law Revision (Pre-1922) Act 2005, which repealed 206 Acts.
Deputies will also be aware of the Statute Law (Restatement) Act 2002. Work is also ongoing on giving effect to that Act's provisions and I hope to report on progress in this regard before the summer.
What prompted the survey on business attitudes to regulation? Was it motivated by a perception by businesses that the regulatory environment is overly demanding, bureaucratic and costly or impedes competition and productivity? Did a sense of disquiet in the business community cause the Taoiseach to commission the study?
The survey was commissioned on foot of the comments on the original White Paper. The organised business groups — the representative groups — say they have no problem with regulations or the burdens of the regulatory process as they see them, but they believe they must be of some value or use and that they must be streamlined. They want to try to move away from red tape and have a more satisfactory system. It is not a matter of trying to get out of essential issues.
The business representatives have made some valid points in this regard because many of the regulatory mechanisms date back many years. Their value and usefulness may not be great in many cases. In other cases, compliance is not great where it is very important and it is therefore a matter of determining what is important to the State and trying to get the parties concerned to do this right and remove some of the arguments and difficulties.
The initiative resulted from the original White Paper and the associated discussions and debates. The business regulation survey will assess Irish businesses' attitudes to, and their experience of, regulation. It is intended that the survey, in addition to assessing attitudes to red tape and administrative burdens, will focus on the impact of regulation on business more broadly, including the extent to which it might affect economic growth in general and the competitiveness of business specifically. The intention is that the results of the survey will be used to identify possible sectoral areas for future regulatory reform.
Some groups have practically tried to say there are far too many groups and agencies and they have made all kinds of arguments to the effect that the whole process should be abandoned and started again. I do not agree with this and we must proceed in a careful way. There are areas in which many of our regulatory systems are outdated and it is better that businesses have an input into them. Ultimately, they are the ones fulfilling the criteria and paying for the staff to do so.
Will the Taoiseach indicate the number of OECD conclusions implemented since the publication of the report five years ago? On the question of regulatory reform, is it not a cause of concern to the Government that one of the principal issues being raised by businesses concerns energy security and the fact that, within 15 years, all of Ireland's imported energy resources will come from one field in the Russian Arctic, which will also supply China and the United States? Should this not be dealt with as a matter of urgency?
Bearing in mind yesterday's announcement on the new ownership of Eircom, there seems to have been real difficulties concerning the regulations. BT pulled out of the discussions. I read the speech made by the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Deputy Noel Dempsey, at the e-Galway conference. It set out the regulations concerning broadband, yet, when one looks at the graphs, one will note that we are very far down the list of countries in terms of broadband penetration.
Detailed questions should be directed to the line Minister.
It is on regulatory reform.
The Deputy is outside the limit but I am allowing the first question.
The Ceann Comhairle has been very good with the European Commissioner and the Australian Prime Minister. It is a matter of only one question and he will not knock me on it.
On Deputy Kenny's first point, I do not know exactly how many of the OECD's recommendations were implemented, but I know it is a large number. This is helping in the work in that there has been direct engagement over the past year. Senior business people and senior representatives of IBEC and the chambers of commerce are involved in the setting up of new regulations for business, which is helping in regard to future regulation. The business regulation forum is considering all the issues, which is certainly helping.
As I said to Deputy Rabbitte, the concept of business regulation arose through IBEC with a view to developing formalised working relationships with the Government regarding regulation. The forum has advised the Government on regulatory issues in so far as they impact on business and competitiveness. Particular problems arise from outdated, inefficient or disproportionate regulation and these are being addressed by the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. The small business people have fed into the process.
There is no doubt that the issue of energy, with which I will not deal directly, has become the main issue at European Council meetings, bearing in mind that it was not mentioned at them heretofore. The Commission for Energy Regulation is the independent statutory body established under the Electricity Regulation Act, passed by this House, and it has regulated the electricity market over recent years. Its functions and duties are wide-ranging and have grown rapidly since its establishment. This is likely to continue. In line with the EU directive requirements, full market opening has been in place for the past 14 months, since 19 February last year. That represents the culmination of a number of years of planning and development and market implementation. From a regulatory viewpoint, while the delivery of a fully liberalised retail market is a major achievement, a significant amount of work is needed to create an electricity market in this country to optimise the benefits of liberalisation and compliance and the impact of competition for customers. It is an issue that the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Deputy Noel Dempsey, and the regulator must continue to deal with.
On the Deputy's broader question about the issue of supply, without getting into a long answer, we will have to deal with energy on a European level. That is the solution. It has not been the case up to now. The contribution of the new German Chancellor Angela Merkel to this debate is one I support. There is no doubt that Russia is going to play hardball. It has gone back into itself. Everybody is concerned about that situation. The Russians have fallen on their feet and——
They hold all the resources.
They have the resources and their friends in the countries around them have the rest. They have enormous muscle until an alternative is found, which hopefully will happen. The only way to deal with the problem is for Europe to act in a collective fashion. Otherwise, it is quite obvious what will happen. I fully support Chancellor Merkel's opinion on this and as the Deputy knows from his own group, a fair amount of discussion is taking place on that. I have taken a strong position in support of her initiative.
Further to what the Taoiseach has been saying about the importance of regulations and laws that serve the people I want to ask about regulations already enacted such as Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000, which provides for developers to provide 20% social and affordable housing. That certainly is good, and would have delivered to a great extent. I want to ask about the extent to which this initiative has been undermined by the ability of builders to buy their way out of the Part V arrangement——
That matter does not arise out of these questions. It is a question for the line Minister.
The Taoiseach said the emphasis should be on people. There has been a complete stop on transport for people on dialysis, those with cancer——
It does not arise. I suggest——
——and older people.
——the Deputy submits questions to the line Minister concerned.
The total stopping of transport for dialysis patients in the west is an urgent matter for the Taoiseach to investigate. It is a disgrace. It also applies to cancer patients and older people.
The Deputy will please submit questions to the line Minister.
I want to ask the Taoiseach about three areas in which his Government has been involved as regards regulation in certain sectors of the economy and how it is dealing with each of them. Deputy Kenny has already mentioned the energy area. Does the Taoiseach have an opinion on Eirtricity's decision in February not to——
That does not arise. It is a question for the line Minister.
There is a specific question to be addressed on the failure of regulation at the time and I am addressing the Taoiseach in that regard, with particular reference to a moratorium on wind farm connections. The second area concerns a decision which the Government chose not to take as regards the licensing of café bars. The Government has established an interdepartmental committee——
Again, this matter does not arise on Taoiseach's Questions. It is a question for the line Minister.
This is an interdepartmental committee for which, I presume, the Taoiseach has primary responsibility.
It does not arise out of the OECD report on regulation——
It has to do with the area of regulation because it has a European dimension, of which the OECD is very much a part. This interdepartmental committee has been informed that there might be a breach of EU laws as regards the decision not to go ahead with the Government decision-——
I suggest the Deputy submits a question.
I am putting the question to the Taoiseach as well.
The third issue is the concerns that exist as regards regulation for business. Will the Taoiseach say whether it is about the amount or type of regulation and given the recent decision to get rid of the groceries order and the impact that has had, some sectors of the business community-——
That does not arise. It is a general question.
This has to do with the question of regulation. This is a debate that occurred about whether regulation was acknowledged.
This is not an omnibus debate on all regulations by all line parties.
It is about the Government's policy on regulation and its effects.
The Chair has ruled time and again, as have my predecessors, concerning questions for line Ministers. The groceries order question is for the line Minister.
I am asking about the situation of the groceries order per se. If the Ceann Comhairle lets me continue for 15 seconds, I will have concluded my questions. The Taoiseach will be in a position to answer, I am sure. My question is about the fact that in this debate, some business interests felt it was unnecessary control of market mechanisms, while others thought it was unnecessary regulation. What does the Taoiseach and the Government do in those types of situations? The question is very pertinent.
On the general question, this arises out of a report we did some years ago in conjunction with the OECD, which did the groundwork and the fieldwork. It looked at how to keep the economy competitive and how not to be restrictive in areas, while allowing competitiveness to develop for the benefit of business, specifically, and consumers. To answer Deputy Boyle's question, it is not so much about volume but about the concerns of businesses that they are complying with regulations they believe to be outdated, inefficient and disproportionate and that too much time, effort and person power must be devoted to providing information. It is a question of how valuable this is and how it is used within the system. They know from CSO and other statistics that they must comply with orders, however, so the better regulation forum is trying to work out what is important and how best to deal with matters, using technology to best advantage. It is seeking to determine what is most beneficial for the various agencies of the State, which collect information, and what is of benefit to business. There are now a number of regulators working on detailed issues as regards the particular areas for which they have responsibility. The enterprise steering group, which is responsible to the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Martin, has regulations as regards the better regulation group. Questions in that regard should be put to him.
In the Taoiseach's omnibus response to the five questions grouped, he indicated that the business forum on regulation met on three occasions since it was established. What is the membership of the business forum on regulation?
I do not have the names, but they are senior representatives of IBEC, as well as an interdepartmental group of officials, under the direction of an assistant secretary of my Department.
Will the Taoiseach circulate the details?
Yes, I will. There is no problem with that.