Mr. Gerry Murphy:

On the general issue, the report recommended against disposing of them but it alluded to disposal and suggested that material could be sold to another operator or leasing company. It stated that the resale value would be considerably constrained by the fact that the vehicles have been designed to Irish rail gauge, which is only used in Ireland, Brazil and parts of Australia. Significant modification would be required if the vehicles were to be used elsewhere in Europe and a potential buyer would need to take account of the cost. The report suggested, therefore, that it was unlikely that temporary reassignment to another European administration would be feasible in an economic sense. Any such reassignment would have to be permanent and new requirements for rolling stock would incur the cost of new procurement.