In 2013 Gerard Convie went to the High Court to quash a report presented to this House by a predecessor of the Minister, Deputy Darragh O’Brien. The Department conceded to the overturning of its own report findings that there was no evidence of wrongdoing in the planning department of Donegal County Council, apologised to Mr. Convie and paid him substantial compensation. This led to the commissioning of the Mulcahy report in 2015, which was to be completed in October that year. It took almost two years for it to be finalised. It sat on Eoghan Murphy’s desk for three years, and it has now sat on the desk of the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, for more than two years. The excuses in the Minister's cut-and-paste replies to repeated parliamentary questions are unsustainable at this stage. When he sat on this side of the House he called for the publication of the report, yet now he prevaricates. What has changed? Why is he now frightened to publish the Mulcahy report? It is time to be honest on this issue. Is the Government going to publish it? If it is not, will the Minister come out and say that?

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue of the Mulcahy report. He will know there are complexities. There has been advice as well in respect of the potential publication and, if it were to be published, the nature of the publication in terms of redactions and people's names being mentioned within it. It remains under consideration within my Department.