Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

Well, it was not available. We only got it at 6.45 p.m. The report must have been sent all around the world; we were looking for it all afternoon but could not find it. It became available on the Internet only at 6.45 p.m.

I welcome the publication of the report. Above all else, we need to have confidence, and the public needs to have confidence, in the planning system. Anything that undermines this confidence does no service to the State.

During the term of the last Government, the then Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government set up an internal review into planning in six local authority areas - to which I understand Donegal was later added - where complaints of irregularities were reported. When the internal reviews were completed, it was decided to have an external examination of the case based on the internal report so that the conclusions from the internal report would be externally validated. The previous Government had gone a long way down the road to appointing the external panel, with the tendering process complete and letters of appointment ready to issue to members of the panel. I know the Minister of State has not been in the job long, so I will not hold her personally responsible for what happened, but it seems that when the Government came into power it sat on the issue. It never appointed the external panel; in fact, it did not really do anything about the investigation at all. Thankfully for all concerned, Fianna Fáil continued to pursue the issue and has forced the Government into action by raising it regularly, particularly in today's motion.

A year and a quarter after coming into power, and two years since this process started, we have at last received the report, at 6.45 p.m. today. It is now 7.30 p.m. and, as the Minister of State will appreciate, I have not had an opportunity to peruse the report, which I understand is quite a lengthy one. I am glad the Minister took the decision to publish the report. However, if it were not for the tenacity of Fianna Fáil on this matter, it would not have been published today. In fact, it might never have been published.

There is a saying that we should take into account more in this country, across Government areas and in administration in general: justice delayed is justice denied. Two years was more than adequate to produce this report, and I believe justice was delayed in this case. The Minister of State might nod her head to indicate whether I am right in understanding that no malfeasance was found by the Department and that the local authorities have been cleared of any serious wrongdoing. Is that correct?

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