The president of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants has told its annual conference that the current level of regulation is strangling business.
Referring to what he called a current 'addiction' to increasing regulation, Michael Dolan said we were in danger of becoming an EU of administrators rather than entrepreneurs. He said recent surveys had estimated that the cost of regulation adds 4% to the cost of producing goods in Ireland.
Earlier, EU Commissioner Charlie McCreevy had told the conference 'tough and coordinated public oversight can help give back some of the credibility the accountancy and auditing profession have lost in recent years'. But he warned that the profession still had to keep improving its quality assurance systems.
Meanwhile, Trinity economist Dr Sean Barrett is warning against 'sleepwalking' into harmonised economic policies with low growth. He is also expressing concern at the conference about complacency on tax, as new EU states are introducing flat tax rates as low as 11%. Dr Barrett is also calling for more deregulation in financial, legal and medical services.
