Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Not yet, but it is probably coming to that. As one who comes from the west of Ireland and having served as a Minister of State in the Department with Deputy Ring, while I would not say it is a conflict of interests, I must confess that Peter Feeney worked with me at one time when I was in the Chief Whip's office, and is a good friend and former colleague on the county council.

As a west of Ireland man I want to see the western rail corridor opens reopened. I also want to see greenways rolled out across the country. If, in order to achieve what Deputy Cannon wants and what many other people want, which is a greenway, we lost key critical infrastructure that is the western rail track, it would be a great shame. To do that would be a retrograde step as it has been there for a period of time. I accept that there is huge frustration. I have met people who were supportive of reopening the line and a train running, but who have since said that nothing has been happening so let us build a greenway. I accept that there has been debate and that it is realistic. This is why I am disappointed we have not been able to make more progress during the period in Government with regard to reopening that key piece of infrastructure. We have protected it and we have kept it there for future use.

Deputy Matthews made a point earlier around the development of key areas, and Mr. Feeney also acknowledged this, such as Oranmore, Athenry, Tuam and Claremorris, with the largest of those towns being Tuam. The case for protecting the line and reopening it for rail is, in my view, made. That is absolute. If a service is provided, if it is reliable and if there is high-frequency capacity, it will be used. We could develop those towns along the corridor with sufficient capacity. We need houses for people to live in and we need economic development in the west of Ireland.

I disagree with Mr. Mulligan's point. I am not sure if Deputy Cannon reaffirmed that or not. If we built a greenway on the line and then suddenly changed our mind in the future, I do not believe that it would just be a case of taking it up. There would be a huge campaign, and rightly so, by people who would say that they had fought for the greenway infrastructure and that they do not want it removed for rail. I do not accept that point. This is not to say that there could not be agreement somewhere else along the corridor, or elsewhere, but I just do not buy that argument. I have seen this too often in relation to local campaigns that can get difficult. There might not be questions in my contribution but there is a lot of commentary on what I believe is positive and possible for the west of Ireland in protecting that key line and its potential. It is all the more pressing in the context of climate change, sustainable development and regional development. I certainly hope that the Government does not just protect the line to look at it, but also protects the line to build it, and supports the development of a greenway alongside or appropriate to it.