Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We are working hard to make sure that as this document gets finalised, is protected in terms of its content. As I said, I have not seen any final draft. I had a meeting with the chair, as one would expect, to get an update report in terms of where things are and the direction of travel and so on. I understand various different amendments were still being considered this week in terms of the report being finalised and we must respect that process.

It is not a surprise on something of this scale that there would be commentary and people outlining perspectives and so on. That is what we have seen. People will not have to wait much longer to get the detail of this report, however. We will do what we can to try to protect the integrity of that process.

In terms of the implementation strategy, which I do not want to say too much about because I need to bring a proposal to the Government and get it accepted, certainly I will not be in a position to simply accept the commission's report's recommendations and start implementing them on day one. There may well be some early actions that we take on the back of that report, of course, but because this is such a substantial report, we will need to take some time and, as the Deputy said, talk to and work with representative organisations but also with other colleagues in government and with the Taoiseach's office to ensure we can actually put an implementation plan and timeline around that in place, which I can then bring back to the Government for approval. I certainly believe that getting the input of all parties in this House as well as representative groups and other stakeholders will be helpful in this process. That is certainly what I intend to do.

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