Mr. Patrick Neary:

The section 254 update under consideration is an important piece of the puzzle and will be welcomed by industry in general, NBI and other operators as a means to enable broadband provision. The Deputy is raising wider issues regarding the road-opening licence regime. Our Department and that of the Minister of State is consistently looking at feedback from industry on that. The local authorities through the Local Government Management Agency, LGMA, review the guidance they give on how the road-opening licence regime is implemented.

We continually look to see how it could be optimised. It is on the agenda that, where improvements can be made, we will consider them. With the NBI roll-out happening in rural Ireland, we are getting a lot of feedback on how it is working. Other operators come forward with feedback on things that could be improved. We have recently, through the mobile phone and broadband task force, implemented a revision of the guidance provided to local authorities on the road-opening licence regime. That process will continue.