Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman and secretariat for facilitating me. I will be quick because many of the areas have been covered.

I am incredibly disappointed by Mr. Meade's presentation in respect of rail plans and services. In the national context and the context of the west, there was a perfunctory mention of the Athenry-Galway double line, and that was all. That is just not good enough considering that the region gives a lot in terms of freight and passenger numbers. We surely deserve much more consideration than that.

What are Mr Meade's thoughts on the IWT proposal? The ambition of IWT is what we need from Irish Rail, particularly in terms of connecting Ballina and Mayo to Waterford and Foynes. I have been listening to the discussion on wind energy developments off Rosslare and Waterford. I share the views of Mr. Ronan in this regard in that I am aware that Foynes has an equal ambition to be a centre for offshore energy. Given that the west will be home to much of this, it would make sense to have a combination of ports, with Foynes being part of it. How does Irish Rail propose to connect Foynes to the rail network? Mr. Meade said he wants to do it. What are his views on the IWT proposal? IWT has shown what can be done from Ballina and what can be done by working with the good team Irish Rail has in Ballina.

My second question is on the EY report, which has been referred to a lot today. Who commissioned it? Was it Irish Rail or the Department of Transport? What was the final cost of the report?

As he knows, it will be discussed again and there are many concerns about that particular report, about how it arrived at its conclusions and about the data used, but that is for another day. I want to know who commissioned it and who paid for it, and what level of engagement there was between Irish Rail management and EY in the preparation of the report.

What is Irish Rail’s policy on greenways? Does it give up disused lines to them relatively easily or does it have a plan for lines that may not currently be used? To use the phrase Mr. Meade has just used, if a heavy user or an anchor tenant was to come looking for them, would they be available? What if someone comes looking for a greenway to be put on that line before the anchor tenant? Has Irish Rail not just given up an asset without giving it much consideration?