Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 16 October 2014
85. Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation in view of Ireland's recent fall in the World Bank's ease of doing business rankings, the policies being considered to make the regulatory environment more conducive to the inception and operation of indigenous businesses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39382/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraFirstly can I point out to the Deputy that Ireland's ranking has not fallen, Ireland is ranked 15th out of 189 in the 2014 report - unchanged from the 2013 report.
As part of an overall goal of boosting Ireland's international competitiveness and making Ireland the best small country in the world in which to do business, the Government has put a process in place to identify practical steps that relevant Departments and agencies can take to address the ease of doing business in Ireland.
In many respects, improving the ease of doing business offers the greatest potential to enhance our competitiveness, as improving administrative processes and practices are generally within the control of public bodies and do not necessarily require investment
The World Bank's Doing Business project looks at domestic, primarily small and medium size companies and measures the regulations applying to them through their life cycle. It presents quantitative indicators on business regulation that can be compared across economies and over time. Doing Business goes beyond identifying that a problem exists and points to specific regulations or regulatory procedures that may lend themselves to reform.
However, there are certain indicators in which there is much room for improvement. Ireland is quite far behind the leaders in dealing with construction permits (115th), getting electricity (100th), registering property (57th) and enforcing contracts (62nd).
In response to the World Bank's Doing Business Report, the Government has put a process in place to ensure that
(i) all of the information captured by the World Bank is accurate and timely;
(ii) recent reforms to Irish regulations to enhance the ease of doing business are reflected in the index; and
(iii) relevant Government departments identity and implement reforms to improve Ireland's performance.
In addition, to continue the progress towards making Ireland the best small country to do businesses and to improve the ease of doing business, individual Government Departments have identified more than 50 specific actions which are currently in train, or which could be taken before the end of 2015, to make it easier for enterprises to transact their business with public bodies. The actions relate to headings such as streamlining administrative procedures; using technology to reduce the administrative burden; starting a business; reducing transaction costs; settling legal disputes; participation in public procurement.
In my own Department we are engaged in a continuous process of reducing the timelines and burdens for starting and running a business. Initiatives we are taking include enabling electronic filing of returns to the Companies Registration Office, with 82% of all Annual Returns e-filed in 2013, introducing measures to make examinership procedures less costly, making it easier to apply for an audit exemption, introducing a range of innovations though our overhaul of the Companies Acts, reducing processing times for employment permits, our Workplace Relations Reforms and improving communications with businesses through our 'Taking Care of Business' fora.
