28. Deputy Sinéad Gibney asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the steps her Department is taking to ensure that the Omnibus packages being developed at EU level will not result in a lowering of standards that will negatively impact Irish businesses and consumers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50250/26]

I would like to thank the Deputy for their question. The Government strongly supports the EU’s competitiveness agenda. Simplification and the Omnibus packages are a key enabler of this. Both the Letta and Draghi reports underlined the need to reduce the regulatory and administrative burden on EU companies, particularly SMEs.

The European Commission put forward twelve separate simplification Omnibus packages in 2025 and 2026. Each package usually contains several legislative proposals relevant to multiple Government Departments. My Department has been coordinating Ireland’s approach across Government to these packages. The Commission estimates that these twelve packages will together lead to a reduction in annual administrative costs of approximately €18 billion a year.

The Government’s position has been consistent. Simplification has to be about better regulation, not deregulation. We need to focus on reducing the regulatory burden, while maintaining high ambition in terms of fundamental rights, environmental protection, human health, and other standards.

Ireland has sought to play a constructive role in negotiations on all packages, recognising the importance of regulation to ensure markets operate efficiently and fairly, and to protect consumers. In this context, it is important that regulations are targeted and proportionate to the policy objective, whether it is to protect consumers and citizens, or to promote competition and innovation.

During our Presidency of the Council of the EU, which began on 1 July, we will steer discussions in Council on the outstanding Omnibus packages and in negotiations with the European Parliament, for a period of six months. We will advocate for a strategic and targeted approach to ensure simplification can deliver on its core objective to reduce the administrative burden for businesses, in particular SMEs, and support the EU’s long-term competitiveness while maintaining established policy goals.