Mr. Frank Allen:

My thanks to Deputy Matthews. He is right. The last electrification that took place in Ireland was the Malahide line, which was more than 20 years ago. It is important that we mobilise and develop those skills again. Once it starts and we get momentum behind it, there is scope to extend it even further.

I mentioned the procurement exercise for battery-electric. There are electric vehicles and battery-electric vehicles. The exercise is significant in that it allows us through the rolling stock we are purchasing to provide what is effectively electrified transport beyond the reach of the electrification system. There are limits because of charging and so forth. There can be a bottleneck in a remote area. Anyway, the technology has moved rapidly in terms of densification of batteries. I believe moving in that direction or moving ahead with the purchase of up to 650 vehicles that we have talked about as part of this procurement exercise will be transformative for the full network. Public consultation and plans are furthest advanced on the Maynooth line. The reason is that providing additional capacity and electrification there would have the most impact in terms of influencing the pattern of development and so forth. I believe that is the right thing to do.

I will turn to the local area of interest of Deputy Matthews. I would say we are far from neglecting that line down to Wicklow. The most important concern I have about that line at the moment is to deal with an urgent problem of coastal erosion. We need to develop the resilience of our transport network. There is a significant issue in terms of coastal erosion along the east coast in particular. Unless it is attended to soon, it could put that whole line in some jeopardy. I am pleased to say that Government and the National Transport Authority have allocated funds in 2021 to begin the design work to deal with infrastructure resilience to address the coastal erosion issue. If it is not done soon it gets more and more difficult to do it over time. That is the first priority. We can then subsequently increase the capacity or frequency of service beyond that. I believe there is an urgent need to do that. People are talking about further expansion of the road network in the Glen of the Downs. There is an alternative to widening the Glen of the Downs. It is providing more rail transport along the coastal route.

Recently, we have appointed our consultants to do the design work. That work is being mobilised soon - in the coming weeks - to begin the design work to focus on the line Deputy Matthews has referred to.