Ms Maev Nic Lochlainn:

The key point to be made on international services is that Ireland is an island. Since there are no dramatic plans for tunnels to built involving rail corridors to other jurisdictions apart from the one which exists in the North of Ireland, the intention here is, in the event that there may be a need to have an arrangement with the North of Ireland which is different from the arrangements that currently exist, which may happen given the circumstances that are evolving on the international front in relation to obvious developments, the provision is included to cover for those eventualities.