Mr Reid's letter to the committee also revealed that kitchen equipment for the public cafeteria was now in place, committee tables have been installed, and trees have been put in place in the Reid's Close part of the complex.
The deputy prime minister believes it's time the public understood that policy-making in government is like a kitchen in which all sorts of recipes are suggested, but only some make it onto the menu.
An unscientific poll of soup-kitchen clients in Glen Burnie suggests that the able-bodied jobless are getting by on a mixture of public assistance and private charity, but still have plenty of incentive to find work.