Louis O'Hara (Galway East, Sinn Fein)

I thank Ms Considine and Mr. Kenny. I congratulate Ms Considine on her new role. I want to begin by talking about capacity because I have raised overcrowding on rail services arriving into Galway city at peak times with Irish Rail many times. I welcome the new 6.50 a.m. service from Athenry to Galway. That is a help. It allows people to get into Galway city earlier in the mornings. That has started in recent days, but there are still serious issues on the existing services leaving Athenry and the likes of the ones leaving at 7.48 a.m. and 8.16 a.m. I was sent photographs only this morning from a service that left this morning showing people squished in. There was standing room only. It is a health and safety issue. There have been incidents of people getting hurt. People have not been able to board trains. They are being left behind on the platform. There are only two carriages on the 7.48 a.m. train, for example, which I am sure Ms Considine will acknowledge is totally inadequate. I understand that improvements are coming down the line, such as the passing loop at Oranmore and so on, but we have a real crisis for commuters now, and we need action now. Are additional carriages being considered in the short term?