Mr. Fred Barry:

Deputy Tom Fleming will be able to inform the Senator of the issues that have arisen in respect of a road project we are trying to progress in Kerry, where the purchase of much less land is giving rise to great difficulty. That would be an issue with An Bord Pleanála.

There is also a cost issue. The price of land had become so expensive - this is not the case anymore - that it was accounting for almost 25% of the cost of developing new motorways, which was extraordinary. The cost of this land is also a factor. It is not that the money might not be well spent. If one had an endless supply of money, one could ask whether it would be better to spend more money on acquiring sufficient land to accommodate a wider central reservation or whether it should be used to carry out works - which might give rise to greater benefits - in other places.

On wire rope tags and barrier standards generally, the performance standards we lay down are based on the European standards which apply. Under design-build contracts, contractors can put in place steel, concrete or whatever type of barrier they desire provided it meets the required standards. Wire barriers are still in use on two-plus-two roads, which are not motorway standard routes. These are lower-speed central barriers. I accept that barriers of this type are referred to as "cheese cutters" but there are no instances we can find, from anywhere in the world, of their actually operating as cheese cutters. These barriers are not generally used on roads with speed limits of 120 km/h. They are, however, used on roads on which the speed limit is 100 km/h. Our problems with them are, perhaps, different to others. We are concerned that the maintenance costs relating to these barriers are higher than those relating to other barriers. We and others may be using these barriers less in the future. However, those steel barriers are quite strong and they do perform their function of separating the traffic.