Mr. Peter Walsh:

It is. We did an amount of research, and we continue to engage in this regard, concerning the illumination of roads and junctions. I cannot remember exactly which year it was - it was around 2009 and 2010 - but the importance of having illumination at the top of the ramps was something that had been accepted.

There is a diminution of safety on the main line if you are going from bright to dark and dark to bright. Drivers have to make an adjustment at that point. I appreciate that it feels more difficult to drive at night on a multi-lane or high-speed road but in terms of accident records and assessments of the hazards created, there is no evidence to suggest it brings about any disimprovement in safety. There is a body of opinion that says introducing that interface is not a good idea, although I am not sure how much evidence there is for that.

Because of energy saving and the obligations to address the level of energy being used on the network, this was looked into and a new standard of lighting was introduced. We monitor our accident statistics closely and we have had no reason to review, revise or change that in any way. I appreciate that it is somewhat controversial, but it has shown up where we are effectively retrofitting the standard by removing lights from sections of the network. People are used to having them there and they see it as a diminution of safety aspects, but we have no evidence to support that and there are significant energy savings in removing them. I hope that gives the Deputy some reassurance. It is something we are keeping under constant review. We are not taking it for granted.

In terms of accidents-----