Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

The car I am driven in is registered to the Garda Síochána, as it was when the Labour Minister was driven in it. I have no control over whatever arrangement the Garda Síochána has made. The driver is a member of the Garda Síochána and I do not interfere with his business, which is a good principle. It would be wrong of me to interfere with his professional competence in driving the car.

Consider the road from Limerick to Letterkenny, recalling the spend in 1997 and the fact that €100 million is being spent on that road in this calendar year. Those two roads give Deputies some idea of how, not only in terms of money, but also in terms of delivery, investment in capital projects has accelerated. It is also a fact that major investment is taking place in rail. Not so many years ago we were trying to bring the rail network up to a safe standard. Next year we will spend €435 million on capital investment in rail. That means that with national roads, not excluding county roads, and what we will spend on rail, the total investment is €1.8 billion. That is not to mention private investment on top of that figure, which brings in another amount of money.

What are we getting for that? Again, we are getting results. We will be getting a train to Galway every hour at busy times of the day and every two hours at other times, something that those of us who live in the west have dreamt about and worked towards for a long time. We are also getting the western rail corridor. I had a meeting with Iarnród Éireann regarding the section north of Claremorris. We discussed the fencing and clearing of the line to protect the valuable right of way all the way to Collooney.

The timescales in the transport plan will be adhered to. The process is slightly more complicated than, as some have facetiously suggested, simply ripping up the old track and replacing it with new track. Deputy McHugh knows this. He is not a simple man. He knows that the railway line has not been able to carry trains travelling at 50 mph for many years. In upgrading the track from Ennis to Athenry, the permanent track must be replaced, including sleepers and rails, and continuously welded track will have to be put in its place. It will be a far cry from what was there and to put the track back the way it was would be of no use to either Deputy McHugh or to me.

Another issue to be dealt with is the fact that there were a large number of accommodation crossings on that line. As we speed up the trains, that issue must be dealt with properly. The Deputy knows this, because he knows the line and all the small roads around Tubber in south Galway. He knows that there were a number of level crossings on the line, some of which are on the major road. There is a crossing in Craughwell, two near Ardrahan and a number of crossings on the minor roads, all of which must be upgraded and replaced. As well as that, the stations must be improved in such a way to ensure they can handle the passengers.

The idea that we just go along the line, rip up the track and put down new track is a gross oversimplification of what must be done. This reminds me of what catches many people out when they build their own homes. They are told that the blocks will be laid and the roof put up within six or eight weeks and they think they will have the house completed in six months, but as Deputy McHugh knows, between one thing and another and all the finishing work, it invariably takes longer.

We have set realistic timescales and have also had to spread the money over many projects. The development will be completed in stages in 2008, 2011 and 2014. In 2014, the railway line will be open all the way to Claremorris and then we will look at the section north of that point which will in the meantime be preserved, fenced and remain available for further development. It is the largest railway re-opening ever to take place in this State.

I was a little taken aback by Deputy Ó Caoláin who said that the child benefit rise in the Book of Estimates is very small. The rise is zero because social welfare increases, and I would have thought Opposition Deputies would know this by now, are always announced on budget day and always have been, no matter who is in Government. All that the small increase in the Book of Estimates accounts for is the increase in the number of children in the country and, therefore, the number of recipients of the payments.

If we are going to debate issues in this House, we should base the debate on reasonable knowledge and an understanding of what the Book of Estimates is about. I accept that it is complicated. One sees a figure falling in one year — I had the same problem when I was in Opposition until it was explained to me — and one presumes there has been a decrease in funding. However, sometimes the previous year's figures contained an exceptional item and sometimes a figure increases from year to year for the same reason. When we try to explain these things in detail, people often do not want to know because it gets in the way of a good story.

I would like to see a much more detailed debate on the Estimates. It is disappointing that it will be next June before we go through them line by line. I would like to see that happen much earlier in the year and it should happen after the budget and publication of the Revised Estimates Volume. At that stage, we should sit down and go through the Estimates line by line with all relevant information provided and discuss in detail the financing of the country for the year.

For my part, I have always been willing to engage in full and open debate and to explain exactly where every figure in my Estimate comes from. I have explained that the large increase in the Estimate for my Department is partly accounted for by the proposed increase in the number of participants in the rural social scheme from the current 1,900 to the projected 2,500.

I would love to have had more time to contribute to this debate and I thank the Acting Chairman for his indulgence. Tá go leor le plé agus go leor eolais agus ceisteanna polasaí ann. Tá súil agam go ndéanfar plé dáiríre air seo seachas plé polaitiúil. Tá deá-scéal agus dúshláin ann agus ba cheart dúinn breathnú ar an dá rud.

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