The Government has launched a White Paper setting out plans to improve the regulatory process in the coming years.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said the move came against a growing recognition that red tape was affecting competitiveness and social progress.
The Government has signed up to six principles for the improvement of regulation: necessity, effectiveness, proportionality, transparency, accountability and consistency.
The Taoiseach announced a new system of Regulatory Impact Analysis, under which departments and agencies would have to assess and quantify the likely impact of proposed new regulations.
There will also be reviews of existing regulations in key areas, and a drive to tackle red tape in Government departments and offices.
The White Paper also says that new independent regulators will be set up only if responsibility can not be assigned to an existing regulator. There will be a review of arrangements for appeals of decisions made by regulators such as ComReg and CER.
New legislation will be introduced to ensure that fines imposed by regulations are kept up-to-date through indexation.
IBEC welcomed the proposal for Regulatory Impact Analyses but said it was concerned that the process would be introduced only on a pilot basis in a 'small number of Government Departments'. IBEC called on the Government to have the process extended very quickly to all departments.
