John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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Question 190: To ask the Minister for Transport the reason the Government's planned road openings Bill has been shelved; his plans to deal with the continuing problem of road openings and the needs for co-ordination for the utilities on this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18521/05]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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Legislation regarding road openings is contained in a number of enactments including, mostly recently, the Communication Regulation Act 2002, which provides the statutory framework for the control of road openings by telecommunications operators.

As part of ongoing efforts to improve the co-ordination and management of road openings, a utilities and statutory bodies working group, USBWG, was established in 2001, under the auspices of the Dublin Transportation Office, to facilitate the development of services using the road network within the context of proper road and traffic management, road maintenance programmes, and the effective and efficient allocation of space underneath roads for services. The group has sought to identify the key areas where changes or improvements are required, and to produce guidelines that facilitate the effective management of road openings.

The group includes representatives of the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government, the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, the Department of Transport, local authorities, IBEC's telecom and Internet federation, and representatives from major utilities. The group has, to date, issued guidelines to local authorities on the standardisation and streamlining of procedures relating to applications for road opening licences.

A review of the operation of controls on road openings carried out within my Department in 2003 indicated that a key issue was the need to improve the co-ordination and day-to-day management of road openings. In light of this and the work of the USBWG, a wider revision of legislation to deal with road openings generally is not proposed at this time.