Irish Employment Minister, 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.

The Minister said: "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.

"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 said.

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.

Further burden busting changes are imminent in procedures involving waste collection permits, road haulage permits and employment permits.

"The group's recommendations are already estimated to save Irish business some €20 million 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," said Ms Coughlan.

The minister said 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.

(PR/JM)