Mr. Frank Allen:

Iarnród Éireann and CIE have been engaging on that. That is a separate matter to the disposal of land which is intended to realise funds that can be invested in transport. The first three transactions are in the market at the moment. To take account of buoyant market conditions is a positive thing. When I say a property is in the market, I mean we will know within weeks what value will be realised from it. There is a property team within the CIE group looking at any other potential disposals. It will be guided to some extent by the transactions we will know about in the coming weeks. I hope I have not given the impression it is something we might get around to looking at in the future because that is not the case; it is the subject of very active attention. With regard to the properties that are the subject of the three transactions in the market at the moment, deciding to prepare them for sale and working out how they would fit with future railway infrastructure takes a bit of time. This work started some time ago. It was apparent to the property people and the wider public that there was value there, which was not there two or three years ago. That will continue and there is urgency. Some land was sold some years ago as part of the Spencer Dock development and the money was used for the requirements of the company. It is not something we will get around to in the future; it is very much on people's agenda. There are people in property working full time on it at the moment.

The third point the Senator raised was the timing of decisions regarding electrification. In some respects, that decision has been made already. Iarnród Éireann has a fleet strategy which favours hybrid rolling stock that can use either overhead catenaries or diesel. We have already made the decision to go that route. We have reviewed the product offerings and technical specifications and how they would fit our network. That has already happened. There are commitments to additional funding so we do not have to make a decision; the decision has already been made. We can go to the market very quickly to procure rolling stock that will have the required flexibility and will not depend on exactly the scenarios the Senator described in which we do not know which way to go. We can do both at the same time.