Minister of State for Enterprise, Trade and Employment John McGuinness has expressed concern at the impact of planning charges and fees on small businesses.

He said that ways of easing this burden should be examined by Government departments even if it meant reviewing the broader issue of local authority funding.

Addressing the annual conference of the Small Firms Association (SFA) yesterday, Mr McGuinness maintained that regulation at local, national and EU levels was excessive.

He also criticised the lack of pace shown by Government departments and state bodies in taking action and said that politicians and public servants had to learn to move at the same speed as those in business.

Before entering politics, he said, he had run a small business and he was well aware of "the difficulty red tape, lack of action and inflexible rules can cause".

Mr McGuinness said that governments and state bodies did not move at the speed which he or the small business community would like. "They tog out well, have nice clean jerseys, do their impressive warming up exercises, employ all sorts of experts and specialists and then, well . . . Namibia.

"Aspiration is not performance. Activity is not action. Politicians and public servants have to learn to move at least at the same speed as commerce. We have to accept that we are responsible, realise that we have to keep our costs under control and deliver profit, in the form of efficient and effective public services, high quality public amenities and more focused, caring and innovative social services."

On planning fees and charges, he said the impact on small businesses was a cause for concern. "There is a need for my department to understand this and to engage with the Department of the Environment to find ways of easing the burden, even if this means that the broad picture of local government funding generally has to be looked at," he said.

Mr McGuinness has asked that the modernisation of company law legislation be carried out quickly. He said he wanted clarity and simplicity and to remove as much of the burden of red tape as possible.

"We may have to accept the risk of some abuse of flexible rules for the greater general good," he said.

Chairman of the SFA Pat Crotty said action was needed on the regulatory burden.

It was estimated that excessive regulation cost Irish business €500 million annually, he said.

Mr Crotty also suggested that Government action on duty and VAT levels charged on oil products would have a resounding effect on competitiveness and on inflation.