Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

It is because there is a recognition that it would make sense for the people doing the technical, telecommunications company-based work, to cover the cost and also that there would be a modest cost for Eircom in terms of using alternative ducting where civil engineering works are involved in trying to do the work itself. The main cost is on the civil engineering side. The private sector, the telecommunications company, would carry the cost of the threading of fibre through or the relocation of switching equipment or other equipment.

Deputy McManus made a number of different points. In regard to amendment No. 7, amendment No. 2 effectively relocates the definition of the "Principal Act". It is catered for within amendment No. 2. I am informed that the term "gross negligence" is a legal term and there is fairly clear definition of it within the law. Therefore, I understand that wording is there because it is quite a specific term that the courts apply on a regular basis across a range of different areas.

To answer a question on the reason this is complicated legislatively and why it was amendment No. 38 from myself rather than either of the amendments from Deputy Coveney or Deputy McManus that was approved, Standing Orders provide that it is only possible for a Minister to put forward an amendment on Report Stage in this way. The Deputies opposite were facilitating the attempt to get it in on Committee Stage where it was possible but I understand that under Standing Orders, that is not possible on Report Stage. That is why it was in the form of my own amendment No. 38 rather than in any alternative form.

In regard to local authorities, they do have the ability to provide access and to charge. Our cities and towns are full of ducting, much of which runs under roads. There is a mechanism for the local authorities to manage that and to charge. It can only include administrative charges, they are not operating as telecommunications companies. However, there is a measure where such access is provided for.

I will now deal with the last point raised by Deputy McManus on compensation for telecommunications companies in the event of the NRA doing something that would cause them major business disruption and so on. That is where the term "gross negligence" would apply. If through gross negligence on the NRA's part, a loss was accruing to the telecommunications company, compensation would apply.

On the issue of having a National Roads Authority representative present or the nature of the consent, the nature of the process, notification and so on, this will have to operate when we start working it on a pragmatic basis. We must have good protocols that protect the NRA or give it reassurance that it will not have major traffic jams every time one has to work on a repair fault on, say, the M50. One does not want to block the whole M50, so good protocols are needed around how such work is carried out. First and foremost, one has to ensure it is safe. There is a fundamental difference between having a repair truck out on a motorway where people are travelling at 120 km/h, and having it on a local road where they are travelling at 40 km/h or 50 km/h. There is a real need for protocols and procedures that would apply in terms of people working. The telecommunications companies will have to show they are capable of delivering on such standards because of the safety concerns involved in working on the motorway network and the consequences of traffic chaos if we do not get it right on the major roads on our network.

I said earlier that sometimes it is difficult to get agreement across Government Departments and various different agencies. That is true in the case of any administrative system but the Minister for Transport, Deputy Noel Dempsey, is probably more keen than anybody else to see the ducting being used. He was the former Minister in this particular portfolio and was a keen advocate of us using our State infrastructure. The NRA had been given very clear instructions. It sees the economic benefit to the State of us using this ducting. I do not believe there will be a difficulty in setting up those protocols but that is what we have to do once the legislation is in place. This is done by regulations rather than in primary legislation.

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