Mr. Barry Kenny:

Definitely. We are increasing the scope of the ticketing available. Certainly, our most popular cross-route tickets are available. Ultimately we want to get to a situation where point A to point B anywhere on the rail network will be covered.

The question of buses would probably need the involvement of the National Transport Authority, as would the question of all-mode ticketing, in particular because we have a range of licensed non-commercial services and licensed commercial services. Not all operate under the same model. The authority would need to ensure that where Luas or other bus operators come into play there is fair allocation. A considerable amount of back-office work would have to take place. That is why the NTA is the lead agency on that question. We have worked and successfully delivered in several parts of the country with the through-ticketing option. Anyway, I certainly take the point in terms of making website ticketing more comprehensive to cover all those cross routes and routes into Northern Ireland.

The stations in Ennis and Carlow have been in our investment programme for accessibility improvements needed on the national network. They have been top of our list for some time. Again, the NTA has provided for increased funding for accessibility works. The planning permission is there. I will get the precise timescales of the work but it will start later this year. We will see improvement delivered. It is crucial that as we invest generally, the service is accessible to everyone in society as much as possible. We had considerable progress in this area up to 2007 and 2008, but unfortunately the progress has not been what we would have wanted in the interim. Anyway, it is coming through again and it being done on a prioritised basis. We target the stations where the works were not done before and where we have the highest throughput. Ennis and Carlow are progressing this year.

The suggestion for Shannon is not included in the current national development plan. The NDP provides for several studies, including the western rail corridor, which we have mentioned. The plan also provides for Navan to be assessed. The commitment is in place for 2021 there. It also provides for an examination of high-speed rail options rather than upgrading the existing lines. The last major study for a Shannon link was probably ten years ago. It did not approach the cost-benefits needed. Ultimately, for there to be another study it would need to be funded. Sometimes there is a view that we have a discretionary pot and we can choose to pursue certain projects, but we would need funding to be specifically provided or it would have to be required of us to do such a study.

It was a long way from being viable at the time, at the height of the Celtic tiger. I do not have anything more explicitly positive to offer the committee in that regard, but I will engage with our strategic planning manager and provide updated information on the issue.

On the issues at Heuston Station yesterday, first I must apologise to those affected. We experienced very significant disruption. We do a lot of ongoing maintenance work and upgrades of our existing signalling equipment. Investment will be made in a major national train control centre. The problem occurred at 5.38 a.m. yesterday. As morning peak services start to ramp up, it is one of the worst times of the day to lose signalling control on all lines to Heuston Station. There was a software issue. Upgrades of the equipment used were being carried out and there was a software fault. The company with which we are working in installing the new equipment brought in specialists. On the issue of resilience, we were able to have our back-up local control panels staffed by 7.40 a.m. I do not want to say there is necessarily anything positive about what occurred, but it tested our resilience. The issue was resolved yesterday afternoon. We kept the local control panel staff on standby yesterday evening and this morning to ensure we would have people to deal with any recurrence of the issue. We are satisfied that it was resolved yesterday afternoon. All I can do is apologise to those who were affected by it.