Mr. Glenn Carr:

On rail, my other role in Irish Rail is the rail freight strategy for the country. We have a very ambitious rail freight strategy essential to which is the connection of the seaports. We have seen the reinstatement of Shannon Foynes line. We will be working with Cork on the reinstatement to Marino Point. Waterford is already rail connected, with Rosslare in the medium to long term. The reality is that many of the offshore renewable energy, ORE, components will never go by rail. They will never leave the inside of the port because they are so big. However, it is essential and Rosslare Europort will be rail connected. We await the all-island rail review with regard to the Waterford to Wexford line.

This is all from a regional balance perspective but it is essential that Dublin Port has a rail-based solution in its expansion. It is essential that any big inland development in Dublin Port is rail-based and not road based. Dublin Port needs to continue to have rail going in there. When one considers the regional ports, we will have Rosslare, Waterford, Cork, and Shannon Foynes connected, and we will have the rail all the way up to the west of Ireland where the ambition of many multinational companies is to switch from road to rail. That is our stated ambition.

We will also create some intermodal hubs that will provide the relevant warehousing and so on that is required. This will be rail but we will still need road connection. Road will be done for the much smaller journey in a much more sustainable way. Rail can be very competitive over the distances covered in Ireland despite, again, what people might think. It is a simple fact that the top two things that industry wants going forward now, apart from efficiency and profit, is a sustainable way to move its supply chain. We must be very careful, in that if Ireland does not offer a sustainable way to move goods, in time the decision-makers may make other decisions for their plants to be developed elsewhere. These are the conversations we are having with multinationals today who want to be ready over the next three, five and 15 years to be fully green in the way they move their goods that move through Ireland, into Europe and onwards around the globe. Currently, they often move this into Europe by rail and around the world by rail, but within Ireland we just do not do enough in that regard. Together with the ports and with industry, we are going to address that in the coming years.