Liz McManus (Wicklow, Labour)

I am surprised that the Minister has still not received the report; in fact I find it hard to believe. The Minister made this announcement in April, appointed consultants at the beginning of August and promised that the report would be completed within eight weeks and would be followed by a debate. He has now told us that the report has not even been completed, which is the Minister's responsibility. For a job that was supposed to take only eight weeks, €73,000 is good money. When one looks at the Estimates for the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, the Minister seems to be very flaithiúlach when it comes to employing consultants. One of the few items in the Department's Estimates that increased was the cost of consultants. I believe it increased by 140%.

It appears that the Minister commissioned a report after an announcement he made to make certain events free-to-air, but at the time he made the announcement he did not indicate he would need to employ consultants. Why has it taken so long? How far has it got? Has the Minister or any of his officials seen a draft report? Has any of that work been done? Will it deal with the IRFU concerns about the cost? The IRFU has stated that it will cost between €10 million and €12 million. Does the Minister have any comment to make on that? He seems to be walking backwards rather than walking forwards on this matter. Concerns have been expressed about costs to be incurred, for example, by RTE in the context of the Minister's decision. Since we do not have a report, perhaps he might tell us where we are, considering the promises and undertakings he made to the public who have an interest in the matter, but are not getting answers.

See this speech in context