The Forum found that business could benefit to the tune of €500m a year if the regulatory burden was reduced.

Speaking on the publication of the report, ICAI Director of Representation and Technical Policy, Aidan Lambe, said:

“As a body which submitted to the process, ICAI is pleased to see the report’s findings.  The report is right to recognise the importance of an appropriate regulatory environment to Irish business but also right to recognise that an undue burden harms our competitiveness.

Often an unfair regulatory burden arises not from the intended actions of stakeholders but from uncoordinated responses to problems that arise in one area that do not take account of developments elsewhere.  With the introduction in recent years of a wide ranging number of independent statutory regulatory agencies this problem has been compounded.  In our own area, auditors and accountants have reporting obligations to five or six different agencies.

As such it is important that the report is right to point out the significance of a political and administrative commitment to this process.  In our submission to the Forum we emphasised the importance of a collaborative and coordinated approach from the public authorities and we are particularly pleased with the report’s findings in that respect.

The Report is timely given that easing the regulatory burden on the SME sector is currently a priority at EU level.  In this context, it is vital that the Government is serious about taking forward the Report’s recommendations and in particular, encourages greater dialogue between the ‘regulator and the regulated’.”