Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for the update. It is, however, of some concern that of the 101 recommendations made by the independent review group in 2016, only 36, or just over one third, have been completed. The others appear to be ongoing or are still to be determined.

In the context of such serious allegations about impropriety and a conflict of interest in the operation of An Bord Pleanála over recent months, it is of real concern that recommendations to address systemic failures and issues made years ago have still not been implemented. That emphasises the need for us to have a debate in the House before the summer recess on the operation of An Bord Pleanála.

We are all very conscious of huge delays in the past in the publication of reports into planning - I am thinking of the Donegal report. I accept the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, did not know yesterday, during what was a good exchange on this issue, that Remy Farrell SC would seek an extension. We now have clarification of the timing of that request subsequent to that exchange. However, the problem is that the report will not now be provided to the Minister until 29 July and we have no commitment from the Minister as to whether it will be published by him, even in redacted form. We do not know when we will have a Dáil debate on it. Let us have such a debate before the summer recess on the broader issues around the systemic operation of An Bord Pleanála.

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