45. Deputy Tony McCormack asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment his plans for reducing the regulatory burden and supporting SMEs. [66660/26]

51. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment the progress made on the Programme for Government commitment to undertake a look-back exercise to identify regulations that are now redundant and creating unnecessary administrative burdens for businesses; whether all Government departments and regulatory agencies have been requested to submit regulations for review; and when the first findings will be published. [66664/26]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 45 and 51 together.

Regulation, and the extent of any regulatory or administrative burden, has recently become a greater focus both at European Union level and nationally as a means to enhance competitiveness.

Our national regulatory framework needs to be a focus for the Government as we strive to support competitiveness at a time of international economic uncertainty.

The regulatory burden on business was highlighted by the Chair of the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council at the annual Competitiveness Summit on 13th July 2026. The Cost of Business Advisory Forum also highlighted excessive and overly complex reporting and compliance obligations while analysis from the OECD shows that Ireland scores below average in its ex-post evaluation of primary laws and secondary regulations.

The Action Plan for Competitiveness and Productivity published last September includes a range of measures to ensure a more effective regulatory system, supporting sustainable economic growth while controlling overall cost levels.

This includes a Red Tape Challenge across Government to reduce the regulatory and administrative burden for SMEs.

In July, together with the Taoiseach, I wrote to all Ministers requesting that each Department, and relevant Agencies under their remit, identify actions which can reduce the regulatory and administrative burden placed on SMEs.

As part of their considerations, Ministers were asked to take account of recommendations from the Cost of Business Advisory Forum and other feedback from their own stakeholder engagement.

This exercise is currently underway, and progress will be overseen through the Cabinet Committee on the Economy, Trade and Competitiveness.