Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Since I believe in taking one step at a time, what I have in mind in terms of the RRDF is an application from Mayo and Galway that would once and for all see a full survey being done of the railway line, thereby ascertaining the exact engineering work that has to be done in order that we can have an accurate budget. There are figures of €60 million and €70 million flying around the place. Nationally, it is a small project. Projects with a higher cost come in at approximately €200 million. Lower-cost projects come in €140 million or €150 million lower than that. It would be useful if a survey was done, allowing for a physical plan. That would cost a few million euro. Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, has already put aside money for restoring a bridge. If we could get that much in place, the rest would follow. There might be modest top-up funding, but such funding is a great carrot for Departments. I admire what the Minister's Department has done with the Ulster Canal. It shows the kind of ingenuity that I would like to see applied to the western rail corridor so that, when the Minister leaves the Department, she can say that she made the Ulster Canal and the western rail corridor happen because, without her facilitative input, the line Departments might not have done the job.

I will put another question to the Minister in a moment.