Nessa Cosgrove (Labour)

I congratulate Ms Considine on her new job. Her reputation precedes her. She is getting lots of compliments today. I live in Sligo and I have read in detail the all-island strategic rail review. I have raised this at a number of meetings. I am delighted to be part of this committee and have the opportunity to raise it here. It is disappointing that the Claremorris to Collooney section of the western rail corridor is not included because there was a lot of ambiguity from Irish Rail around whether the existing route would be retained in public ownership. It was always a given, but there was a lot of controversy and confusion around the idea that it would be extended as a greenway. The confusion caused a lot of upset in Sligo County Council. There was a lot of division between members about it and it was great when I started here that we got clarity from the former CEO, Mr. Jim Meade, that it would only be used for rail infrastructure. In light of that, we were on the back foot straight away and did not have time to lobby as politicians to have it included in the all-island strategic rail review. Huge credit has to be given to Dr. John Bradley - it is sad he has passed away - for the West on Track campaign. As we were overlooked and because there was so much confusion around it, could an addendum be looked at to include this section of the railway if the work is going ahead as it is only 75 km? There is still no full commitment to it. The Minister of State, Deputy Canney, is keen as a west of Ireland man to see it moving. It is wonderful it is moving. Mr. Kenny said that capacity brings opportunity, but it is hard to have capacity if we do not have the opportunity in the first place. I hope this can be looked at again because if Irish Rail builds it, people will use it. That has been proved along different sections of this line, for example at Athenry.

Ms Considine also mentioned that part of the premise behind the all-island rail review was for airports to be connected to ports. Ireland West Airport at Knock is developing and it is wonderful for us to have it in the west of Ireland. It could be connected to Sligo port, which is for freight. That is another reason to include this part of the line.

I have raised the issue of the catering cart many times. I have 1,000 signatures on a petition about this. Ms Considine said in her opening statement that Iarnród Éireann is looking at "creative ... solutions". I would love to hear more about them. The line is very long. This feeds into my next question about Dublin-Sligo-Dublin train. I use it weekly. I come up to Dublin every Tuesday and I love the train. It is a fantastic service. It is so comfortable and wonderful. However, the journey takes too long. Often there are delays coming into Dublin. What measures are being put in place to rectify this? I know there is a looping service from Maynooth. I would like to get more detail. In the meantime, could there be positive discrimination for people in the west of Ireland, like Senator Duffy said? It is not about commercial viability but about providing a service. We often do not have the healthcare service provision in the west of Ireland so there are many people coming to Dublin using these trains to attend appointments in Dublin. I am a Cork woman so I know that the service has returned to the Dublin-Cork railway line. Leaving the commercial aspect of it aside, as a basic provision for balanced regional development could get it returned to the Sligo-Dublin train and the Mayo trains? That is my second question.

Last week I heard Mr. Kenny on the radio saying that all the commuter services should not be based around Dublin. We have a really good opportunity. ATU in Sligo did a study about having an early-morning commuter train in Sligo. I have spoken to Irish Rail before about this and received fantastic feedback. However, the response said that it might not be until 2027. We think that a commuter service would be a really good option to relieve the student accommodation crisis in the ever-growing ATU. The engineering department did a simulation, so a feasibility study has been done. I ask that this be fast-tracked.

My final point is about refurbishments to MacDiarmada Station in Sligo. At the moment it is like a skeleton structure, with no roof on it. We have explored various heritage grants and looked at ways that it could be possibly used. As Senator Duffy said, the weather in the west of Ireland does not lend itself to be standing out in the rain. The station is a wonderful old building but it is like a skeleton. The old iron structure is there, but there is nothing on top of it.