Ireland Committed To Cutting Red Tape For Business
Ireland's Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mary Coughlan, has received
the first report of the High Level Group on Business Regulation and outlined her
commitment to reduce the amount of red tape imposed by the State on business.
“Our commitment in Government is to reduce the administrative burden
on Irish business by 25%. This demanding target is a key priority in my role
as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment and to achieve that aim we
have established the High Level Group on Business Regulation," Coughlan
announced last week. "The Group is tasked with identifying where legislation has imposed an
administrative burden, or 'red tape', on business and with recommending ways
to reduce that burden, without undermining the policy objectives behind the
regulation,” she added. The work of the Group is focused on concrete measures in specific policy areas,
including taxation, statistics, environment, health and safety, employment and
company law. The first report of the Group sets out a number of instances where
procedures have been simplified, making it easier for business to deal with
Government, for example: e-filing of annual returns to the Companies Registration
Office; on-line access to tax clearance certificates for Government contracts;
increased exemption thresholds for VAT registration; and higher thresholds,
exempting small businesses from having to conduct a statutory audit. In addition, further changes to reduce the burden on business are imminent
in the procedures surrounding waste collection permits, road haulage permits
and employment permits. “The Group’s recommendations are already estimated to save Irish
business some EUR20mn in administrative costs this year through cutting out
paperwork, revising the rules for small businesses and making much better use
of secure on-line services,” Coughlan explained. The minister added that the rolling programme of work set out by the Group
must continue to be ambitious and that she looked forward to continued work
by the Group on the concrete suggestions put forward by the business sector. She stressed, however, that if the work of the Group is to produce optimal
benefits, businesses, and especially small business, must come forward with
practical proposals in the areas where they feel the burden is greatest. “Small businesses in particular have a lot to gain from participating
in this process and making known areas where they feel over-burdened by red
tape. To consider how to address these burdens, the Group must firstly be made
aware of their extent and I would encourage all businesses to feed into the
Group’s work”, she concluded. .
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