Mr. Jim Meade:

We absolutely will.

I am happy to say the new trains we have placed the order for have a real focus on disabilities. They are all level-floored so there are no steps in or out. When you press the button to open the door a step will come out to bridge the gap to the platform to reduce that risk. People with limited mobility or disabilities will be able to self-serve.

They will not need assistance to get on the trains. Over the past two years, we have added staff to our existing trains. We have customer service officers on board to assist people who have disabilities. They are there. We went through a period of time when we did not have staff on every train but we have now reversed that decision. That will also help.

On the public service obligation, PSO, which the Deputy mentioned, as we went into the Covid pandemic, we were all unsure what was going to happen but I am happy to say that, through the Department of Transport, the National Transport Authority, NTA, funded us back to zero at the end of every period. It funded us to the value of whatever the shortfall in revenue was to keep services running. It has done so right through the Covid pandemic and continues to do so. There was no loss made last year and there will be no loss made this year. We will be funded to a break-even point.

The 20% reduction that is to come in at the end of April will impact potential revenue by approximately €47 million. That is our current estimate. That will be taken up by the NTA. It is funding the difference. It will be an additional cost on the PSO.