Mr. Peter Walsh:

I will take the question about the roads in the midlands to the north and south. They are largely national secondary roads with lower volumes. We did a comprehensive national secondary road needs study. National secondary roads are those roads with "N" designation and above the number "50". The M50 is the last of the primaries and anything above that is one of the national secondary roads.

We recognise that there are vital links such as the N80 and the N52 which carry significant amounts of traffic. They are not quite the same as the national primaries, but they are important. They are ones that we put significant effort into trying to keep in good condition. Bog ramparts are a particular problem. They are extremely expensive to rehabilitate comprehensively, so we have to work within the means we have. There are techniques to extend the life of the asset but it is very difficult. It is something we have a sensitivity to, and we are keeping an eye on bog ramparts. It is not that they are ignored. It is just by comparison with roads that have a good subgrade, it is a particularly tricky road type to deal with, and they suffer, especially with increased traffic loadings.