Mr. Frank Allen:

I am honoured that the Minister, Deputy Ryan, has nominated me for reappointment as chairperson of Iarnród Éireann. The highest priority for the board and management of Iarnród Éireann at this stage of the pandemic is to ensure we continue to provide a safe travelling and work environment for customers and for our colleagues, respectively.

I pay tribute to the efforts of more than 4,000 Iarnród Éireann colleagues since March 2020. At a time of national crisis, the ethos of public service has been and continues to be to the fore, and this has been supported by our trade union colleagues. I also recognise the critical support from the Minister for Transport, Department of Transport officials and the National Transport Authority, who have ensured that we have been financially supported to maintain essential services.

Through the crisis, we have continued to focus on how rail can maximise its contribution to a sustainable future for Ireland within an integrated transport network. We recently published our strategy for 2027. Our priorities include delivering a transformative DART+ Programme to double our capacity and triple the electrification of rail in the greater Dublin area, increasing capacity on interurban services so we improve journey times and timetable offerings between cities, developing commuter rail services to meet the transport needs in our regional cities, namely, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford, and complementing this through working with our colleagues in CIÉ Group Property. A further priority is investing in rail freight as a sustainable and commercially attractive alternative to road haulage for a range of sectors. We will shortly announce our strategy for rail freight. Finally, it will be a priority to continue to improve accessibility for passengers with disability on vehicles and at stations.

Iarnród Éireann is the port authority for Rosslare Europort. The port has faced the twin challenges of Brexit and Covid-19. The strategic role Rosslare can play for Irish industry has been ably demonstrated in the rapid expansion of direct services to a range of destinations in continental Europe, as well as to the UK. There are now about 34 services operating weekly between Rosslare and continental Europe. The port has emerged as the foremost roll-on, roll-off port connecting Ireland to Europe.

The board and management of Iarnród Éireann recognise we will face challenges in attracting passengers back to public transport, securing the funding for the investments we plan and in getting large volumes of goods off the roads and onto rail. However, the benefits of placing rail at the heart of mobility for our economy, our communities and the environment are enormous. I look forward to taking any questions the committee may have on any of that work.