Regulation affects all areas of public life. Economic regulations may impact on competitiveness. Other regulations may impact on health and social well-being. Government policy is for regulation to be more rigorously evaluated to ensure that it is needed and that regulation does not become over bureaucratic. Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) is a tool for assessing the likely impact of regulatory proposals. RIA is increasingly being used in may OECD countries to enable more informed judgements to be made about the consequences and impacts of regulation.
Regulatory Impact Analysis: Lessons from the Pilot Exercise examines the pilot testing of the application of RIA in five government departments and offices in Ireland. A model for the application of RIA was developed and tested as part of the pilot process. Lessons learned from the pilot exercise will inform the mainstreaming of RIA across all government departments and offices.