My Department appointed Senior Counsel on a non-statutory basis in September 2015 to prepare a review report in relation to planning matters in Donegal. Senior Counsel was originally due to submit a review report to my predecessor by end-October 2015; however, further interactions and clarifications sought with regard to the scope and nature of the review resulted in delays to its conclusion.
These clarifications have now been provided and I expect Senior Counsel to complete his independent review as soon as possible over the coming months. While I intend to publish the report after having considered its contents, I will only be in a position to confirm this after I have received the report and fully considered it.