Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

The current order is the largest ever placed. I do not have any plans before me for further orders this year. The major event this year will be getting the 67 new carriages into service on the Dublin-Cork route. That is Iarnród Éireann's priority, along with getting the other order on stream. When this order has been completed in 2007-08, the rail fleet in Ireland will be the most modern in Europe. That is a dramatic transformation from recent times.

The intention is to upscale continually. The fleet will deal with all the main intercity routes. For example, the Dublin-Cork service will be hourly all day, Dublin-Limerick will be hourly with a mix of some trains connecting with the Cork service, Galway will be hourly at peak times and two-hourly off-peak, Waterford will be every two hours all day, Sligo will be every two hours all day, and Westport will have existing services plus additional shuttle services between Athlone and Westport to connect with the Galway services.

My understanding is that Iarnród Éireann wants to sort out all the main intercity services. There will be other investment in rail facilities into Dublin. When the ten-year framework is announced shortly, it will be indicative in that regard.

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