Mr. Colmán Ó Raghallaigh:

With regard to the references to JASPERS, there was no proper peer review done of the EY report. JASPERS states in its project screening note: "... our note is not a critique of the EY report, but is instead a broad assessment of the maturity and feasibility of the project based on material that has been published to date." When we consider the number of errors in the EY report, it did require a peer review. JASPERS did not offer a peer review of the detail of that report. Had they done so, they would have found that many of the points made by EY were totally inaccurate. They gave the population of Tuam at 1,100 and they said that nobody, zero passengers, would transfer from their cars to a commuter train to Galway if such a commuter train was available. These were the kinds of errors that led to dismay in the west of Ireland when the EY report was prepared. This is why Dr. Bradley undertook his report. He systematically demolished the arguments against the railway line. He noted, as I have read out to the committee, what JASPERS actually said. JASPERS did not do a comprehensive peer review of the EY report. It did less than eight pages of commentary. It was broad and general commentary. It alluded to the fact that our current status in the European Union meant that Ireland would not have access to EU funding. Even if we never had EU funding, which would be 30% of the €150 million, €150 million would not build three miles of motorway.

I put it back to the Deputy that I know where he is coming from with this. I am prepared to accept the Deputy's bona fides that he is dying to see this railway being reopened, and if he is, I suggest that the Deputy goes to speak as loudly as he can for its reopening to his colleagues in Fine Gael and to his colleagues across the different parties here in Dáil Éireann. We need urgent remedial action in the west of Ireland as our status is slipping. The European Union is recognising that. I am not convinced that greenways, however welcome they are, will provide us with the sinews of war to fight the battle for the future development of the west of Ireland.