Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I confirm I am in my office in LH2000 in the precincts of Leinster House.

I thank the Minister for his continued engagement with the committee. I will raise a number of issues and projects with him in the context of the national development plan. If he does not have the information to hand, perhaps he will organise a written response to be issued to me via his office.

I will return to the issue of rail, specifically the line between Ennis and Limerick. I have raised the issue of flooding at Ballycar with the Minister previously. He will recall an in-depth report was commissioned by Iarnród Éireann and compiled by RPS consultants on foot of work done by the Joint Committee on Rural and Community Development during the period of the previous Dáil. A recommended option has been put forward, which has a costing of €16.5 million. I have raised this issue with the Minister during committee meetings and I have submitted parliamentary questions about it. I do not like the responses I got, especially the replies I received to parliamentary questions. The Department of Transport is basically washing its hands of providing a solution to the issues that still remain in Ballycar. Flooding there is a constant battle. Ballycar is on the western rail corridor and is an important link between Ennis and Limerick. The solution that has been identified needs to be put in place. The key thing is to provide the funding to do it.

I am asking for collaboration between the Department of Transport and the Office of Public Works, OPW. If we do not have collaboration between two State entities to fund this project, I do not think we are doing anything. We have very ambitious plans for rail, but if we cannot sort out a bread and butter issue, which involves flooding of that line for possibly up to 22 weeks at a time, I do not think we can do anything. I would like to get a commitment from the Minister today that he will personally get involved in finding a resolution to this and that the Department of Transport, as a key stakeholder, will sit down with the OPW and come up with a solution to fund option 2 from the report, which is costed at €16.5 million. Perhaps he will make some comments on this issue.