James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I agree. Obviously flooding is very separate from an outbreak of violence, or people who are intent on causing damage versus reacting to a very serious natural disaster. I appreciate that the Minister visited Midleton.

The Cork Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy, CMATS, is the first project of significance. The Minister referred to the strategy in his opening remarks. The strategy is a huge positive and it is brilliant to see the level of progress made. We are anxious to see the construction of the proposed new train stations. For me, the rail aspect is the pinnacle of CMATS. The flow platform being done in Cork, at Kent Station, is being advanced. The dual tracking to Midleton is being advanced. Members of the public are having a very strong and robust discussion about potential future extensions of the rail network in the east Cork area to connect Youghal, Mogeely and Killeagh, where previous stations existed before that line was closed. The Midleton-Youghal greenway is under construction but we are very anxious to establish the most up-to-date timeline on the strategy and the expenditure in the areas I mentioned.

Finally, I compliment the fundamentally decent work being done by Mr. Jim Meade, Mr. A.J. Cronin and the team at Irish Rail. Progress is being made. It is slow and we have to deal with An Bord Pleanála and other planning challenges, but this above all else will make a significant change to the types of commuting seen in the Cork metropolitan area. Currently, we rely heavily on cars, but this project has the potential to revolutionise our transport infrastructure.