Mr. Glenn Carr:

I thank the Senator. The other side of my role is responsibility for the delivery of the rail freight strategy for Irish Rail. We have undergone a detailed consultation with industry in particular and it wants to see a shift from road to rail as part of its carbon commitments. We are working with a project team, consultants and industry to implement the strategy. We launched the strategy on rail freight last year. A key part of that is connecting to sea ports, as well as to strategic hubs placed around the country that have a multi-modal offer, in that they can provide warehousing and access to rail and road. The heavy trunking will be done by rail for industry and into the ports. We are just a part of a supply chain. Often our exporters are going around the world. Now we are seeing some of the trailers are going on rail across Europe. Having spoken to some big multinationals, we are an outlier at the moment.

The rest of the supply chain goes by rail much of the way, but not when it comes to Ireland. It is important that we move on this. We have an ambitious strategy linking Shannon and Foynes. That is already under way. Work has commenced there. We are also engaging with the Port of Cork. Waterford is already rail connected. We want to connect Rosslare Europort. Dublin Port is rail connected. We want to create an arc that goes from Rosslare, Waterford, Cork, Shannon-Foynes, right up to the west. We know there is a cluster of industries there whereby if we put in the right facilities, will actively move to use them.

I was in Castlebar recently. We identified and are working on a design in Castlebar, where there are major multinationals that employ many people. Their performance is being measured not just on the basis of their output but also on that of their carbon footprint. These industries need to come up with alternative supply chain options instead of using road transport. We eagerly await the all-Ireland review ,but we are actively getting on with implementing our rail freight strategy. We hope to place an order shortly for a considerable amount of new rail fleet. We will need that new fleet.

We are currently engaging with industry in regard to strategic locations. The inland port hubs will be key. Traditionally, they have been around motorways, such as off the M50 at Blanchardstown. We have to build facilities that are connected to rail because the supply chain is simply going to shift over to rail. Where we can, we have to provide rail transport that is easily accessible, efficient and at a price that makes it attractive. We have started that journey with the connection of Shannon and Foynes. We will connect to Cork. Likewise, with the offshore wind facility that will be multimodal, our plan is to take a spur line into that site. That will be a lo-lo and ro-ro facility. We hope to see the Wexford-Waterford line established. It is already there, but it will be reopened and will potentially serve for freight and passenger rail transport. This is all very strong, but we need to do it now. There has never been a better chance and a better time to get on and do it as part of decarbonising the transport system.

In regard to digitalisation we have actually signed a contract and are currently in the process of implementing what we hope will be the smartest ro-ro port in Europe. We signed a contract just over nine months ago with a major IT global company that is developing track-and-trace vehicle recognition. Digitalisation brings many efficiencies. From our point of view, it is about linking with all the stakeholders in the port. It is also about using technology to get more throughput because there is a finite amount of space at the port. We are inefficient, not in a bad way, because of the lack of technology to date. We are inefficient in how quickly we do what I am referring to. A simple example would be that hauliers have to queue at the dedicated booth of the shipping company they are going with. Over the next 12 to 18 months, they will be able to go to any booth and check in because the system will recognise their number plates, which will be linked to their bookings. It will recognise that they are authorised, have the proper paperwork and are allowed to come into the port. It will then direct them to where they should leave their trailers or park their trucks. That information will be forwarded to our machinery, such as tugs, in order to allow our people more quickly to identify a unit and put it on a ship. The full checks and balances will happen there. It is a complete track-and-trace system. We are well advanced on that journey. We are engaging with the State agencies. We have allowed our system for the provision of data to be transferred from Customs and Revenue. Streamlining for the whole green lane and red lane can be more efficient. We are big believers in digitalisation. Happily the journey is under way. There is not a common system across the ferry operators. Each of them uses its own system. Our system will lead the way and we are getting a good deal of interest from other ports throughout Europe that are looking at the system. There is a risk with being the first to do it. There is also great opportunity with being the first.