Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We do not have to delay anything here. There are ways around it. The charge was made against other plans which were introduced, including the national spatial strategy introduced by a Fianna Fáil Government at the time, that they were political plans. How can that charge be levelled with any sense of reality when the same charge will be levelled at this plan if the Government does not accept the amendment? There is no parliamentary buy-in with this plan and it is the wrong approach to take. If the Government wants to move forward, if this is such a great plan and if it really is evidence based, the Minister of State would subscribe to the vote and look at reviewing the NPF sooner than in six years' time.

The Minister of State mentioned that the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has a major input on the capital expenditure side, which it does. I welcome that as I welcome the excellent work the Department does in that context.The Department is a leading authority across Europe in some of the work it has done. I acknowledge that it was under Deputy Howlin, when he was Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, that the best of that work was carried out. The one-year review, which I requested, is a very simple review. The information is already available within the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform because the tracker system has already been set up. It is just a matter of debating the tracker system and all the current projects under Project 2040. I do not see the difficulty in having an annual review. With a six-year period, two Governments, perhaps even three, could come and go. We are looking at 2026 before there will be a review of the national planning framework. We would be about 35% of the way into the project before there is a review. That is wrong. If we are moving along the wrong path on any element of the programme, it would be too late to try to make corrections. I do not agree with the Minister of State. There is no need to move in the direction in which he is moving. We should have the debate. All Members of both Houses would be very responsible and would wear the Irish jersey on this issue. It is not just about our county but about our country. We all have a right as parliamentarians, whether Deputies or Senators. Our constituencies are national. Most Senators in the House have a national constituency base and we want to raise those concerns validly here. This is not about delaying a plan. No one wants to see a cent delayed for the plan. If the implementation of the plan is in 2020, there is loads of time because we are in the middle of 2018. There is loads of time. It is not about delaying the plan; it is about giving the plan absolute democratic scrutiny. It is about democratic accountability, stakeholder buy-in and having all political parties and none subscribe to this plan.

I will return to the situation in Sligo. It was the wrong thing to do. It was very wrong to exclude Members of the Seanad and Dáil from that launch. It turned into a political launch. The Minister of State can correct that by accepting this amendment today. I appeal to the Minister of State. If there is any element of the wording of the amendment that he does not agree with I am happy to look at it but I appeal to him to accept it in the interest of democracy and buy-in for this very crucial plan for the future of our country. It would also give recognition to the officials who worked on the drafting of the plan and the work they did. This is not about one person's plan or one party's plan; it is the country's plan. Let us have the country's Parliament debate the plan properly so all can see. I do not think there is any difficulty with that.