Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

I also understand a whole series of recommendations has been issued, some specific to certain local authorities and some general. I commend this, and I look forward to having an opportunity to read the report. As a Deputy and former county councillor from Galway, I have always felt the planning procedures followed by Galway County Council were good, but I will read with interest what the report has to say about Galway County Council. If the complaints by An Taisce about Galway County Council related to the rate of turning over of planning permissions for one-off houses by An Bord Pleanála, I believe - I am sure the Ceann Comhairle would agree - that the judgment and the procedures followed by the county council are more consistent than those of An Bord Pleanála. However, as I said, I will read the report with great interest.

I would like to make a suggestion to the Minister of State. If the Government was able to make recommendations to local authorities, the report must have been ready for some time. This report should now be forwarded to the Joint Committee on the Environment, Transport, Culture and the Gaeltacht for further consideration and so that it can make recommendations on foot of it. For nearly two years, a cloud has hung over local authorities, as people did believe there could have been malfeasance. It is important that Departments realise that when issues such as this arise, they should be investigated and a report issued as speedily as possible. Prevarication is a bad thing, and it is never excusable. I hope that when the Minister of State comes to speak on this motion, she will give a full explanation to the House of the reasons for the delay and dithering in dealing with this issue. I hope she will cover the term of office of the Minister's predecessor, and that she will outline the role, if any, of the senior Minister in pushing - or not pushing - for this matter to be brought to a speedy conclusion.

Many people were wondering whether there was a reluctance to bring the matter to a conclusion. Why was there such seeming hesitancy about this? If it was because the Government just could not be bothered, that is a grave injustice to the people who are under examination. It is also important to ask whether, with all the reform and new governance we talked about, it is possible for Departments to carry out examinations such as this in an expeditious manner. Given the relationship between the Department and local authorities, an independent review would be better, particularly as there were previous internal reports, including one, I understand, in 2010. I ask the Minister to consider external validation of the report, as that would add to public confidence on this matter.

Under the previous Government, I served on the Joint Committee on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, which did two exceptional things. One was its production of the review of energy; on a subject that caused more slagging than enlightenment, we achieved clarity and managed to agree on a coherent position. The other instance in which the committee performed well was in its consideration of the Carragher report into RTE. It is not a committee's role to establish the facts. Having received a report on the facts, however, committees can play an extraordinary role in examining a report, bringing in witnesses, which in this case would include An Taisce and the local authorities, and making recommendations to the relevant Minister on the actions that should ensue. If the Oireachtas is serious about committees and the work they can do, it might consult the Chairman of the Joint Committee on Communications, Natural Resource and Agriculture, Deputy Doyle, who did exceptional work in getting the committee to examine issues in depth and come up with balanced and reasonable conclusions. If such work is done in the public forum of a committee, we will increase the public's confidence in the ability of the Oireachtas to look coldly at the facts and reach consensus in a non-partisan manner. Rather than take a confrontational approach we should hold robust debates with a view to agreeing a solution which appears to be the obvious conclusion after examination and debate. By referring reports to a committee for open and fair examination, we would also help the public to understand the issues raised.

This approach would benefit the two Government parties in particular because six of the seven councils in question are dominated by Fine Gael and the Labour Party. There are those who believe the Government's reluctance to deal with this issue is connected to that dominance.

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