Road Opening Licence

You must apply to Laois County Council if you want to open a section of public road, footpath or associated grass verge to carry out work.

Please note that even if planning permission has been granted and a commencement notice issued, a road opening licence is still required if it is necessary to open the road.

What do I need a road opening license for?

You need a Road Opening Licence to open the public road, footpath, or grass verge for:

  • Water/Sewer Connections
  • Lowering of Footpaths
  • Footpath reconstruction
  • Pipelaying etc

How to apply

All road opening licences are now applied for through the Road Management Office (RMO) online system Map Road Licensing (MRL) which is used nationwide by local authorities. The fees are generated by this system in response to the information provided in the application.

The application is then inspected and conditioned by our engineers and is granted after the payment is made by the applicant, unless there are any issues with the application. The licence, invoice and any receipts or other documents will be published onto the online system.  

The RMO provides registration and support to users of the MRL system.

 The following information and support is available on the RMO website 

  • A link to the MRL system    
  • A link to the registration page for new users   
  • Support contact details
  • A set of user guides for common MRL procedures
  • Access to the revised guidelines for Managing Openings in Public Roads, issued by the Department of Transports, Tourism and Sport in April 2017 

You can email  contact@rmo.ie  if you have any queries about registration. 

It should also be noted that no work should be carried out without prior notice to the Council, ESB and Eircom, even when the licence is obtained. Adequate signage is also a necessity and a condition of the licence. The Council should also be notified when the work is completed.

Further information

Please view the revised 'Purple Book' Guidelines for Managing Openings in Public Roads 

For registration queries on the MRL system email contact@RMO.ie or contact the Road Management Office Tel: 028 – 40741

For Road Licensing registration email Contact@rmo.ie

For technical support MRL queries email support@mrl.jitbit.com