Mr. Dominic Mullaney:

I deal with the roads issues. The Deputy is quite right. There is an issue which in the past required to be addressed regarding road openings. Quite recently the Department updated what is called the purple book, which provides the guidelines on road openings. It also has put in place centralised portal systems in order that all applications come through the one system and are then diverted to the relevant local authority. It is a single portal which speeds up the whole process. What the Deputy says is right. There is provision for local authorities to have embargoes on reopening a road. If for some reason a road has to be reopened by a utility within a short period before the period of five years, or in some cases ten years, is up, there is a surcharge to be paid by the person who does so.