Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

The rail freight market is to be opened to competition from 1 January 2006, in the case of international freight, and from 1 January 2007 for domestic freight operations. Liberalisation is in accordance with the terms of Directive 2004/51/EC on the development of the Community's railways. Significant progress has been made on the transposition of this directive and I will be finalising the matter in the coming weeks.

My Department has already transposed a number of EU directives as preliminary steps for the liberalisation of the rail freight market. These include mechanisms for the licensing of rail operators and the allocation and charging for track access. While no formal applications have yet been received for a railway undertaking licence or track access, my Department has received a communication from an operator stating its intention to establish itself as a freight operator in Ireland. I welcome this development.

In respect of the subsidisation of rail freight, my policy priority remains that additional Exchequer funding should be focused on the expansion of passenger services. For example, a significant additional subvention will be required to expand bus services in Dublin and provincial cities under Transport 21. Expanding public transport passenger services to address increasing travel times and relieving road congestion provides better value for Exchequer funds. However, I am open to considering proposals for interested parties on any innovative or new approaches to rail freight which offers value for money, where a real and tangible return on Exchequer investment can be demonstrated and which compares favourably with investment in passenger services.

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