SMEs' red tape 'must be cut'

The Republic's competitiveness will be damaged if action is not taken quickly to reduce "the burden of red tape" placed on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), according to the Institute of Certified Public Accountants (CPA).

In the organisation's annual report, CPA president Michael Dolan warned that over-regulation was becoming a major issue for business owners, with small firms especially vulnerable to the burdens of rules and regulations.

Mr Dolan welcomed last year's launch of the Working Group on Better Regulation, but said any group responsible for the regulation of business must understand the compliance costs that taxation, company law, employment legislation, licences, permits, building regulations and environmental issues impose.

Meanwhile, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland (ICAI) has called on the Government to re-examine the auditing exemption thresholds, which it says are too low.

ICAI president John Greely said this was an area where Irish company law was falling behind developments in Europe, imposing a greater regulatory burden on the Irish SME sector than faced by their counterparts in Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.