Bernard Allen
Ceist:1226 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Transport if legislation will be expedited to control road openings. [17027/02]
Written Answers. - Road Openings.
Powers to control roadworks by utilities, including those under section 101D of the Road Traffic Act, 1961, are being used by urban road authorities to regulate the opening of roads. In addition, the recently enacted Communications (Regulation) Act, 2002, gave road authorities greater control in relation to road openings undertaken by telecommunications operators. The effectiveness of existing controls, particularly those provided for in the 2002 Act, will be reviewed over the coming months and the need for further statutory powers in this regard will be considered. Meanwhile, a utilities and statutory bodies working group, which is chaired by the Dublin Transportation Office and is representative of the main utilities sectors, is working towards standardising the general approach to carrying out road openings through agreed codes of practice.