Mr. Michael Nolan:

It will take us at least six months before we can develop a brief to procure consultants.

There is much work to be done initially to see where is the starting point. We cannot just dust down the old scheme and bring it back to An Bord Pleanála with a new date on it. We must go back a few stages and we must make decisions on how far back in the process we go. It will be at least six months. We have nine months to work with and we could be gainfully employed in those nine months so we will make better decisions at that point in time. However, it will be approximately six to nine months. We should have the brief drafted in six months' time and then we can revise that. Obviously we will not be engaging with the consultants on a formal competition until we know we have a green light from the Department that, under the mid-term review, we can see a way of spending €12 million to €15 million on the next phase.