Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I simply make the point that I support everything the Senator has said. The one point I would like to make is that the problem of trains being late on the Northern line has to do with congestion in the Dublin area. The capacity is not there to take the increased number of trains that everyone is talking about without building new access, namely, a third line into the city. That is the problem and it is an engineering problem. You can have all the trains in the world but if the track cannot take them, that is the problem. If there is a DART ahead, which train has priority? Is it the DART or the Belfast train, as that is the issue? If the DART is ahead, the DART is slower and the express train behind it cannot go. I believe that is the main reason but the principle of funding and support is extremely welcome and very important, including the rolling stock. There is another proposal the witnesses probably know about, namely, a dedicated separate Belfast to Dublin line. It was proposed some time ago and I do not know where that is at. I do not know how practical it is but it has a number of advocates for it. I think the shared island unit is on the right track, certainly ----