Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

That is a problem. Councillor Joe Conway - I got another one of my councillors in, thank God - has highlighted the fact that the disabled toilet on the Waterford train has been out of service since 2 December. Of all the people to let down, and I know because my son-in-law is in a wheelchair, any time wheelchair users want to travel, it is particularly difficult to have access and find where they get access. Has Irish Rail plans to provide better access for disabled people on the rail system?

Another issue is the dining service my colleague mentioned. The Enterprise service from Dublin to Belfast has excellent dining services, as does the Cork train service. An auld fella like myself travelling by rail likes to sit down and have my breakfast in comfort as I travel back to the west or wherever. From that point of view, I would hope that Irish Rail is successful in getting a new contractor to come in and that the business would be viable for it, but not six times the price. If there is anything we can do to assist in that, that would be really important.

The other issue that bothers me is the number of railway lines we closed down in the sixties. I am mindful, for example, of the line to Clifden. My grandfather, God be good to him, drove a Bianconi coach out to Clifden before there was a train going out there, and then we had the train. A lot of the infrastructure is still there. Has anybody looked at that infrastructure and seen how we might expand the rail system? I realise we are talking about a lot of money. If we want a truly green country, the best thing we could do is have a rail service going out to places like Clifden and Donegal. The western rail corridor needs to be reopened fully.

I am really impressed to hear the witnesses talk about freight. I reckon we could reduce to a fraction the number of 40-foot trucks I see on the roads every single day if we had proper depots. I am very familiar with Limerick railway station. You could not do freight there, but you could probably do freight somewhere out around Mungret. There is a railway line going out as far as Mungret, so it could possibly be done. Is Irish Rail getting the support it would need to start setting up these freight depots around the country? I can see us reducing from 40-foot trailers to delivery vans in local and regional areas.

Those are my key issues. The Rosslare issue seems to be a huge problem now. With the growth of towns like Gorey, Arklow, etc., and the people are all commuting into this godforsaken town, that is a serious problem. Has Irish Rail the money to buy extra carriages if it needs them?