Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There would be nothing to stop the Minister of the day seeking to have an independent review. However, I think Departments generally do well in carrying out reviews. It does not mean they review themselves. Generally, reviews involve stakeholders getting involved in the process and giving written submissions. I have been involved in many reviews. The process of having an action plan for housing is similar to the process involved in the Action Plan for Jobs. Stakeholders have been involved every which way from a very early stage. There have been stakeholder events and both oral and written submissions. The report that will be brought before the Houses will not just be the view of one or two people in the Department.

In general, the reviews carried out are done fairly, as one would expect. There will be ample time to discuss the report in the Houses of the Oireachtas and for all the views to feed into the process. Departments specialise in reviews and involving everybody in consultation. I do not think it is a case of trying to close down debate but it gets very complicated when one brings in outsiders to do reviews due to the tendering process, procedures and costs involved, which tend to delay the process further when we want to get down to business.

There will be ample time given all the actions involved throughout the Rebuilding Ireland process for reviews, conversations and debates because it will involve a massive spend of taxpayers' money. There will be no shortage of discussion from either the Minister, Deputy Coveney, me or officials throughout the process. I guarantee that. Neither the Minister nor I are short of words and we can say a lot on this issue. We are happy to discuss it as much as we can.