Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am at the convention centre. Over €1 billion has been spent on road improvement and road maintenance programmes. The big complaint I constantly hear is about where major road improvement is carried out and shortly afterwards another utility company comes along and excavates it again to put down ducting, cables or whatever. What kind of co-ordination involving local authorities takes place before work starts to avoid duplication and excessive expenditure? I was a member of Cork City Council during 2003 and 2004 when there was major refurbishment in Cork city. We notified all the utility companies that we would not allow any excavation to take place for ten years once it was completed, meaning that they had to put in all their required ducting. Is it the Department policy to co-ordinate work with all the utility companies that operate in the State?