Colette Kelleher (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Peter Drucker is a well-known business guru who says culture eats strategy for breakfast every day and in the expert group's considerations and proposals on the law and policy, it is very important to be mindful of the kinds of things that undermine implementation at a very ordinary level, as alluded to by Deputy Ó Broin. One may have the perfect structures and the perfect law. The law on the face of it is not a bad law but the fact is it is not working. We have to understand what is under the surface, although not as under the surface as has been the case since the presidential election. What are those impediments? How do they relate to the role of local government? We have to be mindful of looking at alternatives if these things are ultimately going to be serial blockages to delivery because they reflect not just the prejudice of elected members but of the people the elected members represent.

One may have a fantastic suite of solutions but if they do not pay attention to those underlying factors and human rights, as Deputy Barry stated, then all that will be worth nothing because it will be undermined, delayed and peeled back. A component of the expert group's report needs to pay attention to those matters as well.