Mr. Fred Barry:

The decision to withdraw the M20 was by direction of the Minister and I am not in a position to comment. I am not allowed to comment on Government policy.

I wish to comment on the maintenance of reserved land. We have discussed this topic at the committee on previous occasions. The compensation provisions under the planning laws do not allow local authorities to provide compensation for planning blight. The compensation laws in some other jurisdictions such as in the UK, to my best knowledge, provide compensation for planning blight. I do not know what is the practice in continental European countries. Any change in the situation would have to come by way of a change in the statutory provisions. The local authorities cannot provide compensation unless they have a basis for doing so.