Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I spoke about this matter in the Dáil last night with the Minister of State, Deputy Thomas Byrne. One of the Europe-wide failings of the traffic light system is that there is no uniformity in how amber and red regions are being treated. Incoming passengers in France will be treated quite differently from how we will treat them. Passengers must grapple with that, but from an airline's point of view there is uncertainty across the European Union regarding scheduling flights into spring 2021 and beyond. There are also measures lacking beyond the Union. We are very reliant in the mid-west on Shannon Airport and flights coming in from the US. There does not seem to have been any in-depth discussion about reactivating that air connectivity westbound to the United States. That is something that urgently needs to happen.

I will make a brief comment on rail, in which I see there is to be major investment. I spoke to one of the Minister of State's colleagues, Deputy Matthews, last week over tea break. He is a huge advocate of rail travel but I made the point to him that it is unaffordable for many people. I would love to take the train to Dublin every day but it is simply not affordable. The car is probably half the price. Pricing must be tackled. I lived in Belgium and the Czech Republic for a year, split on a six-month basis, and I could travel 300 km or 400 km by rail for €12 or €15. It was very viable and that is what really got people using it. It has to make economic sense.

The other point I wish to touch on is the Coonagh to Knockalisheen distributor road in County Clare, which is a phased project. Phase 1 is getting under way, but phase 2 was not mentioned in budget 2021. Many questions are being asked about it in the region. It will be an information highway between Limerick Institute of Technology, LIT, which will get university status in March 2021, and the University of Limerick, UL, campus. Is that project progressing in the Department?