Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)

The seven authorities had been selected by John Gormley, he had set the parameters for the review and he had selected the issues in each case to be reviewed. He did nothing more. Our rigorous review, which was carried out by the Department and which we will now subject to full independent scrutiny, showed no evidence whatsoever of corruption or malfeasance. The decision made by the former Minister of State, Deputy Willie Penrose, which I supported and which was followed through by the Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, proved to be prudent and correct.

Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin Deputies should note that nobody in this Government stopped any inquiries. We will act decisively, rather than do nothing, on the issues at stake at present. It is being described as a whitewash by Deputy Niall Collins. It is either a very long, fully transparent, detailed and comprehensive whitewash, or perhaps it is a fair and balanced analysis of the issues originally brought to John Gormley's attention, and on which the Deputy said nothing at the time. The reception the report has received in certain quarters would suggest that some people would prefer the Government to plant evidence on the planning authorities involved, point to this and have seven county managers put in stocks on trumped-up charges. We are not prepared to do that.

The report states clearly that it is not giving a clean bill of health to the entire planning system. It concludes, however, that in these seven cases there is no evidence of wrongdoing. We do not make the claim that wrongdoing will not be found anywhere in the planning system. Thanks to the conduct of many people over the last couple of decades, it will be some time before anybody can make that claim. The planning review has identified areas of policy and practice which, quite bluntly, do not measure up. The Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, has stated her intention to act swiftly on these, and I will support her in her work.

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