Kieran O'Donnell (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Carey who is from County Clare and Senator Coffey who is from County Waterford are familiar with the Waterford to Limerick railway line. I acknowledge the commitment Mr. Kenny gave to my colleague, which I welcome. The Shannon to Limerick railway line has long been in the offing. Deputy Carey and I were members of the mid-west regional authority together and pushed this matter at the time. A feasibility study of the line was carried out by the authority in the mid-2000s.

Mr. Kenny is probably aware of it and I am assuming it is purely an inadvertent oversight in his statement. He referred to Cork and Waterford. However, Limerick currently has a Limerick-Shannon metropolitan area transportation plan under way and I hope that as part of that when Irish Rail makes its contribution it would speak about it. Apart from the commuting aspect, and there is already a rail line in Sixmilebridge and Cratloe, having a rail line from Shannon to Limerick would allow Shannon Airport to enhance the offering with regard to both Galway and Limerick. There would be spur from a line. Perhaps Irish Rail would examine that. I believe it is a major element of infrastructure that is being missed. If one flies on any of the Ryanair flights worldwide the airports might be an hour from the destination but there is a rail link into the city. We would like to have the same for Limerick. Galway would benefit as well. Can we take it that Mr. Kenny might consider that? Jacobs Engineering Ireland Limited has been appointed consultants on it by Limerick City and County Council, which is the lead authority along with Clare County Council. It is the first time Limerick and Shannon have been linked as a metropolitan area. I assume Mr. Kenny is aware of that so can we take it-----