5.1 The DCS' budget debate has been scheduled to take place three weeks after the required tabling of departmental strategic plans and almost all stakeholders were dissatisfied by the severe time constraints this scheduling placed on them. The Budget and strategic plan need to be read together in order to do a thorough analysis, and the late tabling combined with the fact that the strategic plan was only accessible on CD Rom, placed constraints on stakeholders' ability to prepare for the Committee's stakeholder hearings. It was argued that the late tabling hampered public participation and the value such participation had for the Committee.