Street Works (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order 2007

I apologise for being absent—I was at another committee meeting. The provision is very welcome, as there is nothing more irritating in Northern Ireland than to see a road that has been reconstructed and resurfaced and then, within a few weeks, to see a public authority come in to excavate again. In some cases, the order gives total powers to the department that President Chavez of Venezuela would be delighted to have. It says: "““Conditions may be attached to permits in order to minimise disruption””—" and that is fine; but then it goes further and refers to, "““a restriction on the execution of street works for a prescribed period following completion of substantial street works””." We do not know what that prescribed period is. I hope that common sense will prevail and that it will not be 100 or 50 years. What is the maximum? The order refers to undertakers, but who are they? Is this simply directed against construction contractors or is it directed against former public authorities, such as the NIE and British Telecom? Will it apply to public authorities, such as the Water Service? The ““prescribed period”” may have to be changed following the issuing of the order: there could be an emergency in the road, such as a burst water main or sewage pipeline. Is there any provision for emergencies in the order? Once the prescribed period has been designated, how does one get round it if there is an emergency?