John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

No, we have not; the McCarthy report is still a list of recommendations. I made these points previously but Deputy Tuffy was not in the Chamber at the time. I made precisely the same point that Deputy Tuffy made, that people in planning departments have little enough to do compared to during the boom. The problem is with regard to public service unions and demarcation and that is a real difficulty. I have succeeded somewhat - not the extent that I would like - in giving people in those departments extra work from An Bord Pleanála. However, I must be candid and state that it is not as effective as I would like it to be. When I see the amount of people available and the amount of work is required I do not see the required results, frankly. I want to ensure that we can get greater flexibility in the public service. It is a real issue that political parties over the years and successive Governments have failed to tackle and I hope this Administration will tackle it.

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