Ms Barbara Nolan:

Hopefully, yes. That is what better regulation means, at least from our perspective. Regulations that have become obsolete, for various reasons, will also be reviewed to see if we need to get rid of them. Proposals that are in the circuit but have not been adopted will be reviewed to ascertain whether they are unnecessary in light of the new thinking. We already had the refit exercise. This is building on that exercise. That is how this is expected to work.
I was also asked how the projects will be assessed. I do not have much more to add to my remarks on the criteria, on who is involved and on the committee that is being established by the Commission and the European Investment Bank with input from member states.
Many projects will be cross-border projects. I refer not only to the Border here but also to the many borders across Europe. Perhaps large infrastructural projects that cross various national frontiers will be jointly submitted by a number of member states. This will be a factor. From our perspective, it does not matter. We welcome cross-border initiatives because that is where the added value of EU activity can come into play.
I assure Deputy Eric Byrne that there are many bottlenecks in many markets. We do not really have a single digital market or a single energy market. There are many problems with the way our markets work in Europe that cause bottlenecks, put off investment and make people cautious. The unstable economic situation has been a major turn-off for investment. These are the things we are setting out to tackle with this investment plan.
I will explain what I meant when I said this process is a technical operation. Obviously, the overall goals are extremely political. We are trying to select projects that will reduce unemployment, etc. Clearly, there are major political issues here. When I spoke about a technical operation, I was referring to the fact that projects will be selected on their technical merits, their viability and whether they have a good chance of attracting the necessary investment. That is what I meant by "technical". As I said, it is not the case that an a prioriblock of money will go to each member state or each individual sector. It is an open situation until the projects are selected. I hope I have answered most of the questions. I am conscious that my colleague, Mr. O'Riordan, has not said a word yet.