Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank each and every one of our guests for joining us this morning to discuss the development, reinvigoration and bringing back to life of a piece of public infrastructure that has not served the needs of our communities in the west for a very long time. Senator Horkan spoke earlier about the fact that our guests are all volunteers. They all do this for reasons that are dear to their hearts in terms of how they want to see the west of Ireland developing and I thank them for that work. Many of them have been doing this for a very long time indeed - those who have advocated for the reopening of the western rail corridor for decades at this point and people such as Mr. Mulligan, who are looking to see that rail route protected until such time as it makes sense for that development, advocating for a holding position of a greenway.

All of us who live in the west can see the benefits that would accrue from the development of this line as a rail service providing some of the benefits spoken of by those advocating for that this morning but we also need to be pragmatists and realists here as to what is possible now, in the medium term and in the long term. We do the people we serve a great disservice unless we do exactly that - look at the facts as presented to us right now and try as best we can with the aid of people who are far more expert than we are in the development of national rail infrastructure as they advise and guide us to make the right decision as to how this asset is used to the best effect for the people we serve.

Every report commissioned in recent years has drawn roughly the same conclusion, either that it does not make sense to develop the western rail corridor north of Athenry at this time or that it does not make sense to do so in the long term. The most recent report commissioned by the Department arrived at that conclusion. It was then sent by the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, to an entity with the European Commission, Joint Assistance to Support Projects in the European Regions, JASPERS, which is acknowledged as being expert in the development of rail infrastructure across the European Union. It drew the same conclusion, that is, there is no social or economic benefit accruing right now from the development of the line within the region which it serves.

As regards the political perspectives on this issue, the current Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin, stated in 2017 that he could not envisage the return of rail services on the line, given the lack of a strong economic case to support it. The Tánaiste, Deputy Varadkar, stated in 2014 that the Government had no plans to extend the western rail corridor or any other heavy rail line in the State. The current Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, stated while Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport in 2015 that his Department was supportive of a proposal to develop the disused Collooney to Claremorris rail line as a greenway. As recently as last week, the current Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, stated in the Dáil:

Once one goes north of Claremorris, the line is not extant. Everyone is agreed that the section north towards Collooney and Sligo is highly unlikely in the immediate future to be considered for rail services.

He also stated last week:

[I]s there is a demand for commuting from Claremorris or Tuam into Galway on rail? The answer is clearly 'No', as ... JASPERS, said.

Those are the facts presented to us right now. The facts oblige us to make decisions that are in the best interests of the people we serve. As I said clearly to the Minister in the Dáil Chamber last week, we need to make a decision now. We need to make a fundamental decision about how exactly this key piece of public infrastructure is going to be used in the coming five, ten 20 or 30 years.

The experts within Iarnród Éireann who are charged with setting out a rail freight strategy for the country arrived at a conclusion published in July last year that it makes no sense right now to develop any freight services along that line, but they also said it makes absolute sense to develop a regional freight hub in Athenry, adjacent to the rail station. The Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, recently stated that the most urgent rail investment we can make in the west of Ireland is double-tracking the line from Athenry to Oranmore, bearing in mind that there are more people commuting to Galway city from Athenry and Oranmore than there are from the whole of County Mayo.

These are the facts as presented to us right now. All I am asking is that we act, as I am sure all present intend to do, in the best interests of the people of every village and town from Athenry to Collooney and, in a spirit of hands across the Border, all the way to Enniskillen. They are sick to the teeth looking out their window for the past 30 or 40 years and seeing this piece of infrastructure rotting away into the ground, serving no purpose whatsoever.

My question for Mr. Ó Raghallaigh is the following. We will have the outcome of yet another review at the end of the year. I dearly wish that it will say it makes both economic and social sense to begin developing that rail line connecting Athenry to Claremorris and perhaps even further north. If it does, I will be delighted and as that development gets under way, I will begin advocating for the development of a greenway alongside it which, in the greater scheme of things in terms of the cost of the development, would not represent a very significant investment. If the rail review arrives at a different conclusion, however, such as yet another fudge or kicking the can down the road again, does not reach any firm conclusion on whether we need to begin developing a rail service on that line, would it not make sense then, at least in the interim, to use the line to serve the interests of the people who live along it? The people of every village and town along the line are seeing millions of euro being pumped into greenway investment across the country. For example, I refer to the benefits it has brought to places such as Westport and Newport in Mr. Ó Raghallaigh's county, the beautiful County Mayo. Newport is re-energised and re-visioned for the future as a result of that development. Places such as Kilmacthomas in Waterford are seeing an extraordinary turnaround in their fortunes, both in terms of their economy and the quality of life in those places.

The worst thing and the greatest disservice we could do to people in the west of Ireland is to say they are going to have neither a rail line nor a greenway. Mr. Mulligan made the case earlier and I will reiterate it. In August 2013, Barry Kenny stated Irish Rail would license the routes to local authorities to enable them to develop cycleways and greenways on them because there was no doubt they are a fantastic tourism opportunity and it protects the alignment in the longer term. He stated the railways are protected by the very existence of the cycleways should they be needed in the future. Jim Meade told this committee in February 2021, "The greenway is a win-win ... because it keeps the asset in State ownership". That is all we are asking.

I am deeply fearful that by the time the review is published at the end of the year, we will be left with nothing. Mr. Ó Raghallaigh will be waiting and those advocating for a greenway will be waiting and that is not the outcome we want to see happening. I am asking a very simple question. If it transpires that when it is published at the end of the year the rail review concludes that right now, and perhaps for the foreseeable future, it makes no sense to develop that line, will he then advocate for the development of a greenway as a holding position to protect the asset and to begin bringing some degree of economic benefit to the communities it serves?